The Home Department will henceforth rely on the State Police Special Branch to offer it “protocol advice” in advance on functions hosted by private persons to which its top functionaries are invited.
The Intelligence wing has suggested that the latest visitor management systems (VMS) be installed at key public facilities such as the Government Secretariat.
A significant number of citizens have acquired the Aadhaar card.
Soon, driving licences and ration cards will have the biometric information of the card holders embedded in them.
Visitors to the offices of Ministers, for instance, will be required to insert their driver’s licence or Aadhaar card into the card reader kept at the VMS kiosk. The proposed system will compare the information with the State’s database on its citizens, take the visitor’s photo and issue him a temporary identification badge.
A dedicated official will guide him or her to the Minister’s or bureaucrat’s office. The visitor will be required to hand over the badge when he exits the facility. The Special Branch will also prepare a “lookout index” of “undesirables” to assist the Secretariat security.
The government move comes in the wake of a series of “stinging” revelations of its top functionaries, including Ministers, former Ministers, bureaucrats and certain District Police Chiefs, having attended functions hosted by dubious persons, including “fly-by-night” operators.
The Home Department has stressed that police officials need to get the Intelligence Wing’s clearance before “endorsing” private functions, excluding social events such as marriages and funerals, by their attendance.
It wants the Intelligence Wing to pre-empt “undesirable elements and private profiteers” from exploiting the “openness and easy accessibility” of the State’s political executive for their private ends.
