OdishaPlus Bureau
Odisha Government will soon set up a direct controlling mechanism to handle the private security agencies which are having unusual growth in recent years due to spreading out of financial activities. These private agencies are having mushrooming growth, observe experts.
The State Government will appoint a controlling authority in the Department of Home for handling the regulatory mechanism for private security agencies. The controlling authority will improve the regulatory system as well as the development of security environment for these institutions, which are growing in a big way.
As the Private Security Agencies Regulation (PSAR) Act, 2005 empowers the State Governments to appoint the controlling authorities, accordingly the Odisha Government will appoint one soon.
While earlier senior police officers are appointed as controlling authority of the private security agencies, now it has been decided to post senior officers serving in the Department of Home as CA, so that it will be in consonance with the PSAR Act. It has been observed that some of the State Governments have appointed senior officers from the State Police as Controlling Authorities and the same is not in consonance with the provisions of the law, pointed out the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This responsibility needs to be directly handled by the Home Department. In view of the above, the State Governments have been impressed upon the appointment of Controlling Authorities, as per the Statute at sufficiently senior level officer in the Home Department rather than entrusting the responsibility to State Police.
In the meantime, the Union Government has recently formulated the Model Rules of PSAR Act The Private Security Agencies (Private Security to Cash Transportation Activities) Rules. The Rules have been framed to keep in check the incidents of attacks on cash vans and risk of large volumes of cash falling into the hands of unwanted elements.
The purpose of the Rules is to enforce safety and security requirements such as designing of the cash vehicle, number of staff and guards to be deployed in one vehicle, checking up of their antecedents before giving employment to them, the proper training requirement of staff, and how much money to be carried in one vehicle and sizes of private vaults and its operations. The Rules prescribe the operation timing for transporting cash through these cash vans. All details are there in the Model Rules.
Now the State Government will frame the Rules as per the PSAR Act. After the Rules are framed, the State Government will give a time frame of six months to the private agencies which are handling cash.
Accordingly, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has requested the State Governments for early notification and enforcement of the Model Rules. This issue was recently raised in Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meet.
