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Journal of Statistics and Management Systems

(Since 1998)
Hybrid ·Peer-reviewed·ISSN (Online): 2169-0014·ISSN (Print): 0972-0510

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Monthly Journal: Publishes peer-reviewed aticles on theoretical and applied statistics and management systems, expoloring industrial statistics, actuarial and decision sciences.

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Journal of Statistics and Management Systems
Open Access Research Article

An enquiry into access to minimum wage, food affordability and saving propensity of guards of private security establishments in Ahmedabad

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pp. 1385–1402Vol. 28Issue 8November 2025DOI: 10.47974/JSMS-1503XML
Received:
08 Apr 2025
Published Online:
24 Nov 2025
Article type:
Research Article
Language:
EN
Article no.:
JSMS-1503
Pages:
1385–1402

Abstract

Private security industry has experienced a remarkable leap in India in the after the economic reforms introduced in the country during 1990s. Guarding service, specially manned-guarding is provided in users’ premises, in order to restrict the undue access or movement, and also to safeguard the property. The protagonists of this industry are its workers i.e., the guards. Existing literature concludes the presence of substantial informality, low-cost operation and exploitation of workers in this industry. Regulatory framework has been enacted by the Indian government to safe-guard the interest of the guards. The Ahmedabad city of India is one of the prominent clients of private security services. Security guards are demanded both at residential and non-residential premises. This paper throws light into one of the major regulatory provisions i.e., minimum wage accessibility among the guards, and attempts to understand how the guards are doing with respect to food affordability. The paper also examines the saving propensity of the of the guards in terms of its determinants. Relevant econometric models have been developed for the same. The regression outcome shows that minimum wage is not universally accessible, and the residential guards are deprived more than the non-residential guards. As far as food affordability is concerned, it portrays a gloomy picture, and the status of the respective group of guards are unlikely to be different from each other in the study area. Low income has some bearing on the propensity to save. Saving propensity does not seem to be affected by guards’ level of education, premises of employment, marital status and place of origin.

Keywords

Access to foodFood affordabilityIndiaInformal sectorManned guardingMinimum wagePrivate security industrySaving propensitySecurity guard

Subject Classifications

J20J31J33J34J38

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