Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Nov 13 (IANS) Trained guards from Punjab will help private security agencies to secure the venues of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be held in New Delhi October next year.
With the CWG less than one year away, 33 managing directors and security experts from national and international security agencies Friday came to the Punjab Security Training Institute (PSTI) of Punjab police at Jahankhelan, 150 km from Chandigarh, to witness the passing out parade of a new batch of trained personnel here.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who took salute from the 312 new passing out recruits here Friday, said that a new batch of trained female security guards would also be started soon.

Badal said that with security agencies facing shortage of quality trained security guards, the Jahankhelan institute is the only one in the country providing training to the security guards at par with Punjab police commandos.

“Each passing out candidate here is carrying a minimum four offer letters from security agencies,” he added.

“In the post 26/11 scenario, the importance of employing skilled and weapon-trained security guards has been understood by every employer. With state police having limited resources, unable to handle the security of every building, the security agencies’ task to scout for trained security guards becoming increasingly tiring,” Badal noted.

The Punjab government had recently announced that it will train nearly 100,000 youth in security operations to fulfil the growing demand for workforce from the private security sector - both in India and other countries.

The PSTI, set up with an investment of just Rs.10 crore and managed by Punjab police officials, will raise its training capacity from 10,000 in 2010 to 15,000 in 2011.

Badal said that over 500,000 trained security personnel were required by agencies in India and a similar number in other countries.

Stressing the need for focusing on training our youths as security guards for other countries, he said that the youth would be made proficient in English, Arabic, Spanish and French besides providing them security training to make them employable in other countries.

The new recruits gave a practical demonstration of access control, frisking, anti-sabotage checking, cordoning off and sealing, evacuation, surveillance, chasing, over-powering and immobilisation of criminals and suspects, identification of IEDs, explosive and narcotic material, body search, premises and area search, defensive driving, first aid and other tasks.