CHENNAI: 43-year-old Sunil Chhetri works for almost 12 hours a day. Standing outside the gate of a high-rise apartment in Velachery, Chhetri deals with visitors, mainly delivery boys, and ensures that no outsiders enter the apartment without proper mask or a temperature check.
Donning a cloth mask and with a sanitiser bottle in hand, Sunil, a native of Darjeeling, works as first line of defense in the apartment and is focussed on his job. Working for long hours under the sultry sun is painful and he is also aware about how vulnerable he is in these times. Despite all that, Sunil is happy that he at least has a job now.
“During last year’s lockdown I was jobless for around three months. I struggled to arrange a meal a day for myself and my family, and had to take debts. I am relieved that this time at least I have a job in hand,” he said. This is not an isolated case. Hundreds of private security guards in the city have a similar tale to tell. With closure of commercial establishments, corporate and private offices, and industries owing to the lockdown, hundreds of security guards have lost jobs, and those who still are drawing salary, have to risk their lives to continue their vigil.
“Many agencies have asked older guards not to join duty while the younger ones have diverted their profession or gone back to their natives. But we middle-aged people have worked all our lives as guards and know no other job. I need to work to feed my family,” said Sundar Mohan, a guard deployed outside an ATM, and a native of Bihar.
As there is shortage of manpower, many guards have to work extra hours. “I am worried about my health but the worry of my family dying of starvation is bigger. My employer and friends will take me to hospital if I fall ill,” said Sundar, who has four children.
The agencies are also facing tough times. “During lockdown, the demand for guards have come down significantly. Now we are supplying only 50 to 60 guards a month while the number was almost double in pre-Covid times. Maintenance of office expenses also adds on and it is difficult for small unorganised players like us to survive,” said Suresh of Hawk Eye Security Services in Chennai.
Colonel Pandian, owner of Pandian Security Agency, said government has announced private firms to provide vehicles to employees to go to their workplace. But security guards are not allowed to commute on two-wheelers. “Is it practically impossible to provide them vehicles. The industry is in a very bad shape,” he added.