Month: April 2020

Anil Puri, CMD APS Group A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementations on ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. Here he writes about the National Lockdown imposed in wake of the pandemic caused by the Corona Virus and the challenges faced by the Private Security Industry. The Pandemic The private security industry (PSI), comprising over 23000 private security agencies (PSAs) employing nearly 9 million security personnel, is the single largest employment generator in India. These security personnel protect the personal, corporate and industrial assets 24×7 across entire geographical contours of the nation. Probably that explains the reason why the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) included security services as part of the essential services. The wild speed of the spread of Corona Virus and the obvious absence of any vaccine for their treatment has added to the fear and gloom. Lessons learnt from the Chinese experience of combating the fatal impact of COVID 19 forced India for a pre-emptive surgical action to go for a 21 day national lockdown from 24 March to 14 April 2020 bringing the entire economic activity to a grinding halt. The implications of such a measure had never been foreseen in the corridors of corporate and industry as a whole; hence, it got trapped unprepared into an unchartered territory and is possibly still grappling to find ways to navigate through it. The challenges Every industry has its own diverse yet specific peculiarities and so is the case with PSI. The footprints of the security services of a PSA could be global and hence has to face challenges at multiple geographical dimensions. However, restricting to the Indian context, the challenges for the PSI at ground zero are primarily on two fronts – ‘operational’ and ‘financial.’ Operational challenges broadly can be summed up as under: Panic amongst migratory population and their sudden move to return to native homes. Motivation of the security personnel to brace the pain of the lockdown. Fear of loss of jobs and salary on the minds of the security personnel due to the shutdown at client sites. Absence of public transport and restrictions on movement creating problem of commuting. Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) at sites for the security personnel at front office or at main gate. Ban on the use of biometrics and issues of identification/ verification of identity. Absence of frisking and baggage screening due to the norm of social distancing. Non availability of temperature scanning devices in markets and at sites. Closure of street eateries, dhabas and hotels near the sites forcing provisioning of food and shelter at work site. Principal employer (PE) demanding colossal reduction in manpower deployed at site or face the termination of contract. Also out of the reduced manpower PE demanding conversion of 8 hrs duration of duty into 12 hrs. All new deployment and renewal of contracts put on hold. Blanket ban by MHA on lay off of employees. Financial challenges transformed mainly into the following: Non-compliance of PE to honor the directions of the MHA to pay salary to security personnel as per contractual T&C. The applicability of the relief measures announced by the MoF as regards to PF and ESI only to the PSAs with upto 100 employees which form only 2% of the total PSAs on record. Thus passing on benefits to only a fraction of PSI and leaving the 98% high and dry. The economic package unveiled for the industries did gross injustice to the PSI by not treating it at par with other segments in terms of 90 day moratorium for payment of PF, ESI and GST. The levy of penalty of interest of 9% on those availing the moratorium of GST is more of a counterproductive step. It was an opportune time to have applied the Reverse Charge Mechanism or GST should have been made payable on amount collected from PE. Holding of salary by the PE in some cases. Additional cost of provisioning of food and shelter at site. Conclusion At this juncture I must highlight that the entire basket of the security services are not feasible to be delivered remotely at client premises as physical security does not work in virtual domain like the IT, ITEs – BPOs and KPOs – where employees can afford to work from home (WFH). While one fully appreciates the genuine humanitarian approach of the Govt at this juncture which is citizen welfare centric, and which aims at mitigation of problems of poor, population below poverty (BPL) and women folk to avoid pain caused by the lockdown. One also applauds the govt approach to keep the financial system on track. But in direct relation to PSI, the PEs who constitute the corporate must be made to honor the directions of the MHA to prevent cascading adverse effects to PSI due to job losses from lockdown. Notwithstanding the above, while we continue to brace the challenges of lockdown and race continues to find the vaccine, I strongly feel that there is a need for ‘think tanks’ to apply their mind on the following aspects of security: Security implications of the national lockdown. Meaning & implications of remote working for security. Crime trends during lockdown and its implications for security. Evolution of new technologies and processes like use of drones, AI, robotics, machine learning and IoT to deliver security services remotely. Evolution of SOPs of BCP to combat such crisis in addition to plans of NDMA & NDRF. Review – is security delivering during this crisis? Rethink – the role of women in security; and where do we go from here.  

The unprecedented COVID 19 pandemic compelled the national lockdown which froze the entire spectrum of economic activities and also brought the social activities to standstill. More than two months of lockdown have played a major role in containing the spread of virus and is probably inching closure to the exit gate wherein barring the regions located in the Red Zones, the wheel of economic and social activity is expected to stumble back to partial normalcy in Green Zones and Orange Zones. Though the lockdown has been extended upto 31 May 2020, it has dawned on the policy makers and think-tanks that extending the lockdown for indefinite period will be disastrous as India does not have the requisite resilience to sustain the resultant economic shock. The fear of community spread of virus still looms large, and hence there is a caution, and graded approach to open up the economy. After having ‘Saved the Lives’ the phase of ‘Saving the Livelihood’ begins. Unlike other segments of the industry, the PSI has been very vibrant and quick to adopt itself to the challenges and the evolving environment which is prominently visible.   THE IMPACT The sudden crippling jolt of the national lockdown did not give reaction time for due diligence, planning and structured response. Some of the major fall outs of the COVID 19 lockdown can best be summarized as under: Restrictions on commuting brought the pivotal role of national command and control centre to the forefront for running the operations by the security providers. Fear of the termination of service contracts left security providers with no choice but to continue running the business with downsized man power at client sites. Representations from PSI were well received by the MHA, Finance and Labor Ministry in the matters of GST, PF and ESI. Deep cuts in revenue had to be taken by service providers with a pinch of salt due to complete freeze in business activity in Multi-Cineplexes, malls, hotels, resorts, education institutes and e-commerce ventures. Despite raising the bar to the highest pedestal of law & justice – the Supreme Court – the salary of the security guards as per pre COVID 19 contractual terms will have to be paid by the security providers. PE has brazenly refused to honor the contractual terms by invoking Force Majeure. CAPEX plans had to be frozen and laid to rest till the situation becomes normal and suitable for review. OPEX is likely to take additional knock on account of kitting with mask, gloves, thermal sensors etc. Gross deficit in cash-flow has surfaced as stark reality since business of clients came to standstill. Cost cutting turned to be most preferred word in the corridors of PSI. The concept of Work From Home (WFH) has got validated. Business travels were brought to naught, but the business did not come to grinding halt. Virtual video conferencing through ZOOM or other Apps facilitated frequent interface within the industry, management and with the clients. Social distancing became the norm through NAMASTE.   FUTURE ROAD MAP The lockdown period of COVID 19 has laid out the turf for many new concepts and work culture. Some of them which are likely to become part of the Best Global Safe Practices are illustrated below: Containment of CORONA virus will be the main focus of the law enforcing authorities, and law and order will take a back seat. Use of mask and gloves will be accepted as part of the attire. Thermal sensors and AI enabled mass thermal screening of employees will become standard practice. AI enabled face recognition technology is likely to replace the traditional access card and thumb, iris or finger print dominated biometrics for attendance at work places. The social distancing will take the center-stage and will necessitate the re-organization of the work place. Work in shifts, whereby 30% of the work force to work at any one time may be an established practice. Work on alternate days from office and home could be an option to avoid issues of parking space. Work from home or make your workplace your home, will become preferred option to avoid expenditure on electricity, air conditioning of offices and house keeping. Business travels will be cut to minimum to reinforce cost cutting. Tight control is likely to be exercised over all office expenditure. Frequent business meetings through ZOOM, SKYPE, WhatsApp will replace physical gathering. Business reviews will be either done online or through virtual meetings on above Apps. As a cost cutting measure, promotion and incentives will be done away with for the current year. Cost cutting may also transform into job losses due to lay offs. Source of revenue generation will become future thrust lines. To prevent loss prevention AI enabled search of baggage & personnel may become necessity. Incidents of theft and pilferage will increase at manufacturing plants and ware houses. Drones will be widely used for monitoring the crowding and non- compliance of the social distancing.   CONCLUSION The PSI unlike the other segments of the industry like manufacturing is not confined to one plant or premises but has footprints over diversified businesses. It enjoys the status of essential services and still has the avenues open for running the current business and its expansion. Thus PSI does not suffer from the full-fledged closure of their business activity. Taking the one time knock of loss to bear the burden of salary may be life time benchmark of loyalty bonus for the noble cause towards the humans who served the organization. Lockdown has presented many opportunities for refining of work culture, redefining the health & hygiene norms, adoption of new innovative technologies and business ethics. These are unprecedented difficult times. Sailing in the turbulent waters is not easy but an experienced and seasoned sailor will adjust his sails to brace the tornado/ storm and will arrive at the shores of his destination. Let’s see the positivity in this gloom, golden opportunity in the despair to chart our future roadmap and be the differentiators. Let…