Corporate and Industrial Security in India. Industry refers to an organization that is engaged in some economic activity.

So, by corollary, corporate or industrial security pertains to industrial enterprises being secure from real or potential threats which they are likely to encounter that could lead to disruption in the productivity of enterprise. In a developing country like India, where resource crunch, absence of technological advancement, corruption, nepotism, licence raj etc. had made the procedure of setting up of an industry immensely cumbersome, establishing a separate non-productive department for security seemed a non-viable idea for the corporate. Even the government had a lackadaisical approach earlier until it realized that the demands of industrial undertakings were very different from day to day policing or law and order problems. This led to establishment of dedicated trained paramilitary force namely, Central Industrial Security Force, which has taken the charge of safeguarding Central Governments economic undertakings from damages, destruction, espionage, sabotage or subversion, or any threat which could endanger lives, property, information or processes. Corporates and industrial security in India got a fillip primarily because of two factors. Firstly, opening up of the economy has opened sluice gates of multinational companies to venture into India and setting up their business here. Secondly, the spread of menace called terrorism across the globe cutting across the spectra of national boundaries, religion, political ideologies etc. has made it imperative that corporates and industrial security takes that quantum leap in their functioning for the smooth functioning of the business. Moreover, as these multinationals arrived in India, they brought with them the culture and morals of Human rights, which is principled on the tenet that nothing is more valuable that a human life. Now that chalta hai attitude has started to fade and corporates have started espousing labour law with safety of lives and property in the working environment. And with examples like that of the Bhopal gas tragedy and accidents in extraction of oil and gas or in nuclear reactors, has

compelled the decision makers to include corporate and industrial security at the companys policy level so that their brands reputation in not hurt. Recent spurt in terrorist activities indicate that not only target identification done by terrorists has grown horizontally, as that of targeting small cities but also its vertical spread has been a cause for concern for the state authorities. In a game of one-up man ship, new targets are like trains, hotels, scientific research institutes etc. has government working overtime to tackle the situation. And with less manpower and lesser efficiently trained manpower, corporates associations have realized that government in not in position to deal with the threat on its own and could only play complimentary role to that provided by the private security agencies. Most of the industrial units or work places had earlier took to physical security as the only necessity and hired people with defence background which brought their vast service experience, professionalism and discipline amongst the security department. Even though physical security continued to be important but since the advent of information and communication technological revolution companies most precious resource has become its information inventory. Information and communication revolution has also brought with itself another manifestation of white collared nuisance in the form of Cyber Crime. Educated youth with destructive mindset use their knowledge to indulge in such criminal acts that are entirely done using information and communication systems. Such is the scope of cyber crime that a class of professional known as hackers have come into existence and rival companies or even government recruit them for espionage and gaining access to their central information bank in order to preempt commercial ventures or extract strategic information. Therefore, in the 21st century, corporate and industrial security has to deal with a double edged sword in the form of terrorist threats with pertains to primarily physical security and access control, and with the phenomenon of cyber crimes.

Corporate and industrial security cuts across all the departments of a given firm. Typically, a firms structure and their security aspects are as: 1. Accounts- key management, cash handling and document security 2. Marketing and sales classified and strategic documents, proprietary information 3. Storage and housekeeping- receipt and issue of material, stock taking, theft and pilferage 4. Administration- safety of the people and property, traffic plan, medical aid, vetting of enrolled personnel, fire safety etc. 5. Info technology document handling, access and storage

Security responsibilities also extend to other exigencies including Natural disasters like earthquakes, cyclones etc Accidents Fire prevention, detection and control which could be accidental (including that by earthquake), or by sabotage Day to day supervision like thefts, pilferage (including that through scrap disposal) Vandalism and arson during lockouts, strike, political or communal riots Bomb threats and intrusion in ethnically disturbed or terrorist infested areas Since safeguarding of an individuals well being at the work place is the onus of the employer, thereby, it employs both legal and financial implications therefore management conducts regular basic awareness programs and undertakes insurance cover for financial stability. Hence, we can safely conclude that security aspects have come to occupy a very significant space in corporate planning and management to ensure that their personnel, material processes, information and environment are secure from any infringement or disruption so that the goals of the organization are not compromised.