Govt mulling bulk arms licences to pvt security firms

The bulk licensees will be responsible for their issual to employees trained in the use of weapons ex-servicemen to begin with. The agencies will be allowed to buy weapons of their choice,and store them in safe armouries.

According to industry estimates,less than 10 per cent of Indias 55 lakh private security personnel carry arms. A major private security agency like G4S has only around 5,000 armed guards in a workforce of 1.15 lakh; just about 10 per cent of the 6,000-odd guards employed by 24-Secure,another large firm,are armed.

Currently,private security agencies can employ armed guards only if they have their own arms licences and weapons. After the Mumbai attacks,we raised this matter with (the then) Home Minister Shivraj Patil. The ministry has so far been very positive about the idea and we expect some decision will be taken soon, said Col (retd) Jagat Trikha of the Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI).