Excerpts from DNA, 15 February, 2010

Excerpts: Report released by leading background screening company — First Advantage, a California-based company with presence across Asia Pacific — has revealed that western cities have a higher number of employees with a criminal past than the rest of India.

Ashish Dehade, the managing director of First Advantage, said this trend has come to light after several companies started background screening to find out if any member of the workforce has a criminal past.

“Background screening as a practice amongst companies has picked up post-26/11 with companies across sectors — infotech, financial services, hospitality and even NGOs — not wanting to take any chances,” he said.

The report released by First advantage reveals nearly a 40% growth in the number of employees with criminal background. These cases may vary from criminal intimidation, spending a night in the police lock-up and obtaining bail, sexual harassment, duping, burglary, attempt to murder and sale and purchase of pirated CDs and DVDs.