Travel Efficiency! Parliamentary Panel Calls For Biometric Screening Methods At Airports

On the back of the two-year restriction amid the global pandemic, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has once again allowed 100 per cent of passengers capacity at international airports domestic. However, numerous airports in India have reported lengthy queues right during the peak hours of flight operations. Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture recently put forward its reports in the parliament during the budget session had suggested non-intrusive screening entry inside the airports.

Revamping The Airport Experience!

"The Committee during its deliberations with the Ministry has often pointed out that a few of the airports, there are long passenger queues during peak hours. In view of the government guidelines for avoiding public gatherings in the context of the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, more steps may be taken to resolve the issue," the report of the parliamentary panel was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

The Committee also stated that the Ministry suggested increasing the flight numbers. It is also noted that at most airports in India, Hand Held Metal Detectors (HHMDs), Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMDs), and physical frisking are done on a random basis. The Committee believes that the current system of HHMD or DFMD, other than being obsolete technology, is intrusive on passengers' privacy.

Quick And Contactless Airports

Under this context, the Committee has recommended steps needed to be taken to ease queues; the Ministry may also expedite its bid to install Full Body Scanners at airports, enhancing the technology of passengers' frisking and leading to faster clearance of queues at frisking points. Furthermore, the number of frisking counters might also be raised at airports, and adequately prepared personnel needed to be posted to man these counters effectively.

Given the increasing number of people at airports across the nations, the parliamentary panel suggested introducing biometric facilities and retinal scanners to identify passengers to avoid crowding.

The report also added the need for the Ministry to explore the availability of biometric screening of passengers at all airports, using devices such as fingerprint and retinal scans and facial recognition, which are currently being used at multiple airports across the globe. The Committee also desires that the Ministry go over the practicality of conducting retinal scans for frisking passengers, as the scan data of most domestic passengers are available in the Aadhaar database.

On April 18, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had expressed confidence regarding India's aviation industry going back to the pre-pandemic level. The aviation industry in the country touched over four lakh domestic passengers in a day as well.

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