Security Skills and Leadership Summit 2016 – A Report

Security guards are needed in every walk of life and security services value chain presents a host of opportunities for the guards to grow up the career ladder! And, for many retired army personnel, private security services gives a chance for a ‘second innings’ through many post-retirement career options.

Broad context for the Security Skills and Leadership Summit 2016

With the formation of Central Association for Private Security Industry (CAPSI), security training has been streamlined with the creation of QPs and NOS for imparting the right skills. There are 7 million security guards and many are not trained. Hence, the wages are low and the youth are not attracted to take up this profession. Security entrepreneurs are now offering several courses in security skills that can provide employment at entry level as a security guard and show them the career path for the role of a supervisor or opportunities for overseas placements. Security Sector Skill Development Council (SSSDC) is keen on creating a Center or Excellence (CoE) and has charted out strategies to implement RPL for agile and effective skill development.

Security Skills and Leadership Summit 2016 was held in Bengaluru on 13^th and 14^th November 2016. This was the 11^th conference held in partnership with CAPSI, Karnataka Security Services Association, regional security bodies and many private organizations. The theme being “Kushal Rakshak Surakshit Bharat”, there was clear focus on holisitc skill development of security personnel. In the welcome address, Major General (Retired) Ashok K Sakhuja, CEO SSSDC, spoke about the mission to skill the security force through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and the need to reorient retired army personnel for a second career in this domain. He also highlighted the fact that 20 CEOs of Sector Skill Councils happen to be former army personnel and this is exemplary about how the industry is utilizing their services.

Mr Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman SSSDC, informed the audience about the impact of SSSDC and how from the notion of ‘chowkidaar’, the security personnel are moving up the ladder with high professional standards acquired through systematic training. Referring to the PSARA Act which mandates 160 hours of training, he described the efforts from the government in skill development and the need for strengthening private security forces across India through programs like PMKVY. This would also be a major step towards ‘organizing’ the heavily ‘unorganized’ sector since standardized training, assessment and certification will bring in uniformity and meet global standards.

He said that the skilling mission is implemented through 300 training centers and so far, 3 lakh people have been trained. He invited the training partners to take up RPL in a big way as this would bring many security persons in to the formal sector through training and better salary, which can go up to Rs. 13,000 per month. This way, they can assure best service to the client. He thanked the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), NSDC and all the stakeholders for taking various steps towards skilling and upskilling. The benefits of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) were clearly brought out as Mr. Singh spoke about the opportunities it creates for respect for existing skills and shows a pathway for better careers, an increase in salary by about 47% and better service to the clients.

Mr. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship reiterated the need for establishing the dignity of security guards through training, certification and appropriate skill development. He also emphasized on creating awareness about security jobs at the international level, besides the need for other interventions like setting up of Center of Excellence (CoE) and ensuring top quality training. He unveiled the Star Badge for certified private security personnel and honoured several security guards with the star badge.

Mr. John Bruton, Former Prime Minister of Ireland, talked about the importance of training and skills and how India can leverage the benefits of demographic dividend through appropriate skilling and upskilling. This is particularly relevant for the security sector since security is needed in all walks of life – there have been an increase in thefts that have increased five-fold, there’s security needed at schools, ATMS , cybersecurity and intelligence. He also urged the audience to explore partnerships between Europe and India for combining the skills and build an open, safe and secure trading system between the countries.