CISF at airports is Courteous, Intelligent Security Force

Not one security breach has been reported from any of the 47 airports where 11,700 of the CISF men and women are posted. Letters of appreciation from passengers are nothing out of the ordinary. But arguably the biggest thank you came from the Swiss Consulate at Mumbai last November.

Roman Baumann, a mentally ill Swiss national who had gone missing, was found loitering around at Bangalore airport. He had no documents or identity proof with him. In normal circumstances, one would presume that Baumann would land up in prison. However, the CISF traced his identity and admitted him to Manipal Hospital. ‘‘I would like to thank the airport security personnel for their prompt involvement,’’ recorded the Consular Attache in the feedback.

Not just passengers, even those running the airports—who you would expect to be fighting a turf war—feel the difference. ‘‘One must say they are doing really well. They are very amenable and because they are a mixed force, they don’t have the usual problems which one finds with the local police,’’ says Mumbai Airport Director Sudhir Kumar.

To better prepare for their new brief, CISF personnel now attend special courses on behaviour and courtesy apart from regular training. And being a centralised force, officials say, the change is felt across the country.

A case in point being an Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India who suddenly found his laptop missing after the security check at Mumbai airport. The CISF replayed the CCTV tapes, identified the person who had picked up the laptop and taken a flight to Bangalore. They alerted their counterparts there, apprehended the man and delivered the laptop the next day at Delhi.

According to Delhi Airport Director P S Nair, the CISF has been successful in striking a balance between security compulsions and customer facilitation. ‘‘When I once wanted to open an extra gate to control the passenger rush, the CISF created no hurdle. In fact, the gate is opened during peak hours and they man it within their existing strength.’’