The inaugural edition of the BW Security World Conclave and Excellence Awards 2023 was held at the Imperial, New Delhi on the 1st and 2nd of September.
Speaking at the Inaugural edition of the BW Security World Conclave and Excellence Awards, Atul Kumar Goel, MD, Metaforce Integrated Services Pvt. Ltd said, “India has two million police personnel, as per a UN study, the ratio of police personnel to per lakh citizens should be 300, India has only 152. This huge gap is being filled by the private security industry which is employing more than 9 million people today.”
He further added that, “The event industry is quite unique because of the seasonal nature, duration, and variety of the events. It becomes difficult for the public administration to keep up with that, the private sector fills the gaps there. A lot of upskilling is required on a constant basis which the public sector can’t keep up with that. All the large public events in the last 20 years in India, the public administration is using private security to manage the security of those high-profile events. There is a synergy that’s taken shape among both these sectors by default which is working quite well.”
Maj Ashish Chauhan (Retd), Founder & Business Officer, Unisense Advisory said, “Cybercrime is something I’m passionately working on. Almost everyone owns one smart device today at the minimum, we often hear about or have personally experienced different aspects of digital crime. Every day more than 20,000 people in India are victims of digital crime. RBI receives more than 2,000 complaints about claims worth 10 crore every day. Till July this year, there are already more than 20 lakh cases registered against digital crime which amount to over Rs 2,500 crore. By 2025, there will be a loss of 10 trillion USD because of cybercrime.”
He added that, “The landscape for the criminals is very large and I think there’s a need for the public and private security sectors to come together and address these issues. The efforts against cybercrime so far have not been very efficient because the criminals are more organised than the country’s security fraternity.”
Moreover, he shared that data collaboration is key, and a stronger framework is needed for seamless data flow between different security institutions.
Brigadier K A Mahabir (Retd), Former Head of Security & Admin, ITC Hotels Division said, “Security will require an added impetus by the police having proper briefings and using private security agencies, we’d need guards deployed as eyes and ears. This process is being developed in many countries including Nigeria for example. The process needs to be accepted and implemented. Who will pay for it is the biggest question.”
Rishi Choudhary, Group Chief Security Officer, Eros Group said, “The presence of security guards is a strength that the public sector isn’t able to utilise as of now. A guard can act as a bridge between the citizens and law enforcement agencies. This is lacking because of lack of trust, lack of training, huge attrition rate, and unfortunately, the best brains aren’t being hired by the security sector because of the low wages. It’s seen as the last option of employment even by dropouts. I would suggest the public sector to increase spending on security by providing better training, creating collaborative sessions, or establishing an information sharing framework. I believe we need the government and private sectors to work together and create a synergy.”
Jeetendra S Kumar, Head Security, Fortis Healthcare said, “When we talk of challenges in security, the biggest challenge I would say is violence against the healthcare facilities. The role of private and public partnership becomes quite important here. The person guarding the healthcare facility is questioned on every step of the way. In this light, for him to defend flagship healthcare facilities like Fortis, it becomes a mammoth task for him. He needs to be empowered. That’s where local law enforcement agencies need to be supportive. It’s a punishable offence to conduct an act of violence at a healthcare facility. It added some strength to the private security professionals working in healthcare security but appropriate legislature, sensitisation among the people, and co-operation from local law enforcement agencies.”
Session chair Col. Inderjeet Singh Barara, COO, Vara Technology ended the session with a mention of the relevancy of the panel in light of the upcoming G20 Summit.
