Stamping of passengers hand baggage in all airports will be completely stopped by the year-end, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Director General O.P. Singh has said.
The system had already been implemented in nearly 15 airports across the country to provide hassle free security checks for the passengers, Mr Singh said. He was here to review the security cover in Kalpakkam, the Chennai Airport and other vital installations.
In an exclusive interview to The Hindu , Mr. Singh said, “I had gone to Kalpakkam to review the security in the atomic power station and interacted with the management there, besides my officers and men. I wished to assess the conditions there and see what the requirements are.”
Referring to the the recent CISF initiative of dispensing with the system of hand baggage tags in the airport, Mr. Singh said, “We have done away with the stamping of hand baggage in as many as 14 airports and a few more are under way. We hope by the end of this year, we will be completely removing the system of stamping of hand baggage from all 59 airports. We have taken adequate measures to do that.”
The CISF chief said that the force had ensured that additional CCTV cameras were installed in grey areas which were not on the focus before. “We would like to cover each neighbouring area. Even without stamping, any aberration can be detected,” he said adding that the CISF should also introduce some kind of structural modifications in X-Ray baggage machines. For instance, the length of rollers should be increased. “The fact that we have done away with stamping has not affected security concerns,” Mr. Singh said.
Stating that the CISF already was giving security cover to nine private installations which included Reliance and Infosys, he said, “If the government decides that some more private installations need to be covered by the CISF, we will definitely do that.”
The Ministry of Shipping wanted the CISF to provide security cover for cruise liners . “We had discussions with them and gave certain requirements to the Ministry of Shipping.” Mr. Singh said.
Asked about the shortage of manpower the force was facing, he said already 1.8 lakh personnel were in the force and over 20,000 fresh recruits would be inducted. On the reports that some MPs had threatened the CISF jawans during frisking at the airports, Mr. Singh said, “ We go by whatever rules are prescribed by the Bureau of Civil Aviation. Our personnel give them due courtesy. Our boys are polite and firm.”
