Spy vs spy?

You can now get an MBA in management intelligence, or train in handling internal security issues.

A major concern for companies is the level of security provided in India, with staff that is barely (if at all) trained.

Few companies have the facility to send their security teams for training, and with most of these jobs outsourced in any case, monitoring the efficiency of security personnel is a major challenge.

If urban working environments demand a little more spit and polish and subtlety from those men in blue who man entrances and exits, then in remote locations where factories or mines need to be secured, the issue and environment are of crime prevention and threat of physical violence.

Obviously, then, training institutes in security would seem to be a sensible business opportunity for an industry worth Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 40,000 crore by 2010) "" with PSUs contributing 30 per cent of its employment, banking 20 per cent , and private companies making up the balance 50 per cent. But at most, so far retired defence personnel have trained or run cut-and-paste operations.

Now, though, with the setting up of the Orion School of Security and Intelligence Management in Mohali, near Chandigarh, in April, it will be possible to get an MBA in security and intelligence management.

Captain Bikramjit Singh, founder of Orion, says, "The security sector as an industry is emerging rapidly with 15,000 companies providing employment to 5 million people across India." That's a huge number, but, says Singh, "Over 95 per cent of these personnel do not have any professional training because of a lack of training centres." Orion plugs that gap.

Nor could it have come at a better time. With the private security agencies regulation act 2005 likely to be enforced from March 2007, it will be mandatory for private guards to undergo training and certification, points out K Vikram Singh of the Central Association of Private Security Agencies in India.

Aimed at providing professional training in the field of internal security and intelligence management, public safety and prevention of crime, Orion will offer certificate courses for guards and supervisors, diploma courses in the managerial cadre for graduates, and an MBA course in security and management intelligence.

The duration of the certificate and diploma courses will vary from 20 days to four months and cost Rs 3,000-20,000 depending upon the course selected.

According to faculty member Gerald O' Connell, advisor, Abu Dhabi Police and former chief officer, UK Police, the private security network in India needs to be upgraded and expanded.

"I liked the concept explained to me by the promoters as there is room for improvement in the private security services in the emerging economies," he echoes Singh.