But they forget a simple truth, God is not accountable to anybody. Not to the family of 82-year-old Colaba resident Dr Jehangir Vajifdar stabbed to death by two security guards eyeing his Rolex watch, nor to the near and dear ones of 65-year-old Carmichael Road resident Uma Seth who was murdered in Usha Kiran apartments by two domestic servants taking advantage of lax security.

Since several such cases of aged people being attacked when alone in their apartments have been reported in the past few months, the safety of residents living in large housing societies has now come under sharp focus, and so has the role played by their security staff.

A close look at the security arrangements in the housing societies is indeed revealing. For instance, Sahitya Sahawas Co-operativehousing society in Bandra, which houses over 80 renowned litterateurs, is not willing to hire an authorised security agency.

``The residents would rather make do with three guards who were hired thirty years ago...the oldest one a proud 60-year-old,'' said secretary Vijay Deshmukh whose proposal to hire a reputed security agency had met with a cold response.

The main reason why his proposal was shot down was the higher costs involved. The average salary of the watchmen at Sahitya Sahawas is Rs 2,000 per month, whereas the professional agencies pay around Rs 3,000 to their guards. The Maharashtra State Security Guard Board provides guards forRs 3,200 per month.

Interestingly, guards in many housing societies do not meet even half the requirements laid down by the State Industries, Energy and Labour Department.

For instance, the staff of the Sterling Investigation and Security Services, employed in different societies of Goregaon and Andheri, is visibly aged, untrained and ill-equipped.

Whenquestioned about the poor quality of guards, manager K D Singbal argued, ``Our guards are quite okay. We give them 15-day training before recruitment. We also check their personal background. And if you are referring to the old staffers, we cannot possibly do away with them until their retirement.''

While most agencies claim that they verify the antecedents of their staffers, it is very evident that few hold rigorous checks.

As M P Chaudhari, formerly with the Black Cat Commando force and currently running the National Security Academy, says: ``Normally, security guards are not given any formal training. Unemployed youth are just given a quick crash course. These fly-by-night agencies do not maintain a proper record of their staffers nor do the guards have any idea of their job requirements. Their work seems limited to a salute in the morning and counting the cars in the evening. And that is why all the wrong people find their way into residential buildings.''

There are about 500 security agenciesoperating in and around the suburbs. However, only 29 of them are authorised to operate as per a notification of the state government. There is also the Security Guard Board formed under the Maharashtra Private Security Guards (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act, 1981 which has on its rolls 18,000 guards in Mumbai and Thane.

The 29 authorised agencies were granted exemption from the Act after they gave the assurance that they would give service benefits to their guards on par with those provided in the Act. Around 75 more agencies, which includes the Vigilante Security Service headed by retired Additional Inspector General A A Khan, have applied for exemption from the Act.

Interestingly, very few housing societies, which are the main clients of security agencies, know the distinction between authorised and unauthorised agencies.

Chembur's Borle Uttam Housing Co-operative Society's secretary T C Vishwanathan says the government should inform the public about the credentials of the agencies. ``Howam I supposed to know the status of the security agency I choose? I just want two good guards who will not sleep on duty or remain absent without intimation. And the rest is not my worry,'' goes his strange logic.

Unfortunately, there is no regulatory framework for security agencies. ``Neither the police, nor the government, nor any other agency is empowered to supervise security agencies. Hence, unless there is a murder, kidnapping or a major robbery, the credentials of the security guards go unquestioned.Housing Societies too must take a part of the blame. They go in for the cheapest security agency until the worst tragedies strike,'' says Diwan Rahul Nanda, CEO of Tops Detective and Security Services Limited.

His company provides security to celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.

The central government had last year introduced a bill which proposed to appoint a controlling authority to check the proliferation of private security agencies with dubious reputations. ``Had the bill beenpassed, only license-holding agencies could have operated. However, the central legislation was not been passed,'' laments ex-serviceman Commodore Omprakash who runs Modern Protection and Investigation Private Limited.