No security cover for I-T dept: Cops

BATTLE ROYAL: Citing manpower shortage, the police has asked the Income Tax department to arrange for private security

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The straight-faced, safari-clad Income Tax officials are suddenly feeling insecure. The city police has turned down the I-T department’s request for security at its several offices. Citing manpower shortage as the reason, the police has asked the department to arrange for private security.

But the employees’ unions within the I-T department are opposed to the idea of private guards. “There are people who were supposed to be employed on compassionate grounds. They have been asked to wait saying there are no vacancies. Why can’t some of them be hired as security guards?’’ asked a union member.

The department, after a recent security threat to the LIC headquarters at Mantralay, had requested the police to provide security. Two notices have been put up at the main entrance of the Ayakar Bhavan at Marine Lines, seeking cooperation from the employees for hiring private guards. The notice mentions that the building was under threat since October last year when four live AK-47 bullets were found there. However, the mystery behind the seizure of the bullets is yet to be solved by the police.

According to the notice, signed by Mala Ramkrishnan, chief commissioner of Income Tax, the income tax authorities met the joint commissioner of police (law and order), K L Prasad, and discussed the issue with him. The joint commissioner told them that “the police force was understaffed and that they should hire private security guards to man the building’’.

Further, the notice also asked visitors to cooperate with the employees if their luggage was checked or if they were frisked. Besides this, the Ayakar Bhavan authorities have installed door frame metal detectors as an additional measure. The department, in the past, had to discontinue with private security guards at Ayakar Bhavan following protests. A month ago, the department tried to have private security guards deployed at its Piramal Chambers office at Lalbaug but was forced to withdraw after its employees boycotted work.

“We are already under-staffed. There are well-trained personnel in private companies so we have asked the department to hire them,’’ said K L Prasad, adding, “This is not a new thing. Several government buildings including the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Port Trust etc have their own security system. If the IT department needs any suggestion on security, we will definitely help them.’’

The Times of India, July 16, 2008