Security entrepreneur breaks stereotypes by training only female security officers
India Feb 21 2020 How often have you seen women security guards?
The number might be minuscule as compared to men security guards in the country.
Many jobs – the motorman driving the local train in Mumbai or a bus driver in BMTC buses – are predominantly taken up by men. And over the decades, it has become a stereotype where women can’t be pictured in any one of these roles.
To break the stereotype, Shravani Pawar, a 33-year-old entrepreneur and Founder of Safe Hands 24×7 is training women to become security guards.
These women mostly hail from poor financial and weaker sections of the society, and the training provided by the startup empowers them, as well as provides financial support.
Post their training, these women security guards work with the startup’s select client base such as ladies hostel, hospitals, educational institutions, and in a few commercial complexes as well. Shravani said, “We focus on clients within the city so that it is convenient for our employees to travel. One of our main objectives is to create employment opportunities for local people so that they can stay with their family and work.” “We choose the places in such a way that these women feel safe and comfortable, and they can also provide the same feeling to the people around,” she added.
These guards are trained by the Ex-Servicemen of the Indian Army, according to the Private Security Agencies Regulation Act, 2005 (PSARA). Additionally, these candidates are also trained with physical, mental training, and with the duty of a nominal security guard regarding the maintenance of records and other duties.
One of the beneficiaries of the startup, Roopa Chalwadi (name changed) told Deccan Herald, “I was just 30-years-old when my husband, the breadwinner of the family, was paralysed, landing our family in a financial crisis.
With an ailing husband and two school-going children, I had to eke out a living. But being uneducated, I had limited options like working as domestic help, which had little income and no job security. Shravani madam gave me moral support and the job of a security guard at a ladies’ hostel in 2010. This fetched me a decent income, ESI, and other benefits. Now, I am well-settled and proud to be part of Safe Hands.”
