The Hindu : New Delhi News : New CISF scheme to gauge public image

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

New CISF scheme to gauge public image

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, NOV. 22. The Director-General of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), K.M. Singh, today launched a fortnight-long air passengers' feedback scheme to gauge the expections of the travellers and their impressions about the performance of the force, which in February 2005 would complete five years of airport security operations across the country. To woo responses, two passengers will also be given complimentary to-and-fro air tickets as prizes.

Mr Singh said the feedback forms would be handed over to the passengers at the airports once they have undergone the security check in the security hold area. The forms will have six questions on quality of frisking, behaviour and manners, communication, attitude, general behaviour and overall security arrangements besides a suggestion area for "improving airport security and frisking and making it passenger-friendly''.

After filling the forms, the passengers will be able to either drop them in the collection boxes provided in the security hold area at the departing airport or on arrival at the destination airport. Else they could post it or e-mail it, he said, adding that the reply card is in a foldable form and no postage stamp is required.

Noting that the scheme is for a limited period from November 24 to December 8, Mr Singh said this was so because continuous processes become routine and lose their sheen. Also, he declared that though CISF has its own self-assessment mechanism, it wants to get as much feedback as possible since self-appraisal is always subjective. Moreover, the scheme, he hoped, would also fetch some innovative suggestions. Finally, Mr Singh said the lucky draw would be held in February 2005 before officials of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authorities of India, who had approved of the scheme.

Claiming that CISF, which was handed over airport security following the December 1999 hijack of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Kandahar, had been able to prevent any repeat of the incident and has performed satisfactorily in the field of airport security, he said: "The proof of the pudding lies in the eating''.

The force, Mr Singh said, has trained commandos and quick reaction teams to respond to any exigency. These personnel undergo extensive training and participate in mock hijack drills to remain in a high state of preparedness.

Simultaneously, he said along with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Intelligence Bureau, CISF is constantly devising plans to make the airport premises more impenetrable.

To give a more presentable and passenger-friendly look to the CISF personnel at the airports, Mr Singh admitted that the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India are deliberating on introducing a different kind of uniform for some personnel posted in the security hold area of airports like Delhi and Mumbai on an experimental basis. However, a final decision on the issue is still to come. Likewise, he said the force has for the past two years been preparing extensively in the field of VIP security as the Group of Minister had in June 2001 recommended that CISF should be handed over the job. But, here again, a decision on final induction is awaited.

Mr Singh also declared that recently when a team of the Tamil Nadu police had flown to Andhra Pradesh to arrest the Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati, all prescribed requirements and procedures pertaining to carrying of fire-arms on a flight were followed. "There is neither a blanket clearance nor a blanket ban on the carrying of firearms by security personnel. It is subject to permission and there was no violation of norms in this case.''

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