Airport security: Stamping of hand baggage to continue

Officials said it was decided to form a committee comprising senior officials from the BCAS, CISF and operators of the seven airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad — to plug the “grey” areas at these sensitive facilities so that the possibility of any security breach can be ruled out once the procedure of stamping of tag is done away with.

“The scheme would be implemented at these airports after ratification by the committee. A similar exercise would be conducted simultaneously at the remaining 52 airports under CISF cover for recommending modifications in the security architecture and CCTV systems so that this scheme could be implemented there as well,” a statement from CISF said.

Explaining the CISF’s logic to get smart gadgets installed first, a senior official said, “It was important to bolster the security system at airports to a level that was being achieved by stamping of hand baggage tags. “The tags help to establish at what level a possible oversight in security could have happened… the security agencies want this to be achieved by sophisticated gadgetry,” he said.

Responding to the decision of continuing with the stamping of bags, Rijiju tweeted: “No final decision is taken yet. A committee will visit 59 airports across the country. Will take a final call after the report is complete.”