Planning a job in Bengaluru? Get your background verified first

All new employees working in startups and IT sector in Bengaluru will now have to go through police verification. The Bengaluru Police believes that it should be a mandatory process to keep a check on terrorist activities as the city is home to scores of migrants.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Intelligence Bureau, has told Karnataka Police that few engineers with terrorism-linked past have infiltrated into Bengaluru's IT industry.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Maheshwarappa S says, "We plan to send a proposal to Police Commissioner and the DGP requesting them to issue a circular to all startups and IT companies in Bengaluru. We'll need to check their recruitment lists to do background verification for new employees."

As of now, such verifications are only mandatory for cab drivers and school staffers and will soon extend to professionals. However, after so many measures expected right away, what disappoints the police is the fact that by September 21, only 13,824 verification applications were submitted by the private sector companies.

City Police Commissioner N S Megharikh said that a formal proposal from the intelligence wing is yet to come. "We will take a decision based on the nature of recommendations made by our officers," he said.

Police Inspector B Ramakrishna, the in-charge of the background verification unit, while expressing his concerns, says, “They come from all over the world, and some may have had terrorist links. We have to take this step in the best interests of the society because we are living in a changed world."

If the plan goes through, all the newly-recruited professionals will have to visit their local police stations seeking a background verification approval. The process will be based on the personal and professional details of the individual.

Business services firm Quess Corp's CEO Ajit Isaac doubts the Police department's capacity to deliver the reports in time, and any delay, he said, could slow the hiring process. "Given the attrition levels in the industry, it will add to HR cost of operations," he said.
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