Underpaid

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 19: Soumya Ranjan Puhan, 24, a native of Dasarathpur in Jajpur district, got a job with a private security agency last year.

Puhan, a school dropout, had thought that the job would ensure a decent living for him and family.

However, Puhan’s dream was shattered when he was paid a meagre remuneration of Rs 80 a day.

After six months, he finally decided to quit and take up a salesman’s job at a private store.

Like Puhan, many others working for private security agencies that operate without valid licence, continue to struggle without a decent salary. Their working conditions are poor.

While guards of reputed security agencies get a monthly salary of Rs 5,000 and above, they are also entitled to various other benefits, including promotion.

Some of the reputed agencies also conduct a training programme before assigning duties.

On the other hand, security guards working with unregistered agencies get a daily wage between Rs 80 to Rs 100.

Sociologist D.K. Jena said financial constraints sometimes forced people to take to wrong routes. “Consumerism forces some of them take the easy way to getting money and they end up committing crimes such as robbery,” said Jena.

The latest example is Dipti Ranjan Patnaik, a security guard accused of killing Bachan Sudha Pattanayak, a 53-year-old entrepreneur from Rasulgarh.

The 24-year-old guard, a matriculate, was arrested on murder charges. Investigation has revealed that robbery was the intent behind the murder.

Dipti was hired by a private security agency, which was operating without a valid licence. He was also involved in two other cases of theft.

The mushrooming of unlicensed private security agencies has become a major concern for police as well as residents.

While police records say that there are 54 registered private security agencies in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the state capital alone has more than a dozen such unregistered agencies.

Police commissioner R.P. Sharma today convened a meeting with the owners of private security agencies operating in the twin cities.

During the meeting, he asked the security agency owners to keep details of their employees and check their antecedents before recruitment.

“Action will be taken against the owners of unlicensed private security agencies,” said Sharma.

In another development, Dipti underwent a psychoanalysis test today. Asha Srivastav of the New Delhi-based Forensic Test Laboratory conducted the test on him.