lakhs of children studying in schools run by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) remain a vulnerable lot with the civic body unable to find a security agency to guard its schools. With the civil defence and the Home Guards having refused NMC’s proposal, the Corporation has begun the process to hire a private security agency. The tender process will commence next week.
“After refusal from civil defence and the Home Guards to provide security personnel, we have begun the process to hire a private security agency. All formalities have been completed and tenders will be floated by next week,” said a senior NMC official. The move comes after the refusal to provide 568 civil defence personnel despite three months of negotiations followed by the reluctance of the Home Guards.
The Corporation was also keen on hiring Home Guard personnel for manning its schools since they are better trained than civil defence personnel. According to officials, Home Guard personnel are even trained in operating arms and their presence in khaki would not just improve their visibility on school premises but would also instil a sense of security. “We had planned to deploy one civil defence recruit in each of our schools. Despite three months of deliberations, the Government refused to provide the force. Consequently we approached the Home Guards but in vain,” said the official. A list of all NMC schools with names of their principals was also sent to the revenue department for the purpose.
It is noteworthy that the civic body had decided to deploy security guards in schools in order to reinforce the feeling of security amongst the student fraternity. It has asked Delhi Police to identify sensitive and vulnerable sites near schools to keep tabs on any suspicious activity within the school perimeter and outside of it. Following the alleged rape in a Mangolpuri school, the civic body had bolstered the security apparatus in schools. This included installing CCTV cameras, raising the height of fencing using iron grilles and barbed wire, deployment of school attendants and guards. Officials said, at present the schools of NMC are guarded by a school attendant and chowkidar.