Now, one ID card per group enough at Indian airports

NEW DELHI: A complaint from a family of four that was denied entry to an Indian airport because only the father had an identity document has led to a change in procedure.

Now only one person in a group will need to have an ID, said Arvind Ranjan, DG of the Central Industrial Security Force, which handles security at 59 airports in the country. This will add to passenger convenience and help reduce congestion. The decision was reached after consultations with Intelligence and security agencies.

Ranjan said this was a “reasoned interpretation” of earlier instructions by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). Other changes are under way in the area of airport security. “We are putting a personality profiling system in place to detect suspicious passengers at the entry,” Ranjan said.

“Such persons may be subjected to frisking and checking of their luggage at the entry by taking them to a separate enclosure in presence of a senior officer.” India is among the few countries that regulate passenger entry to airport buildings unlike elsewhere. There have been attacks in the recent past in Mexico and Los Angeles where terrorists managed to enter airport buildings with weapons and explosives.