Airports under CISF cover to have panels to address differently-abled flyers' issues, say officials
The airports will review the arrangements and requirements of the systems available and help the CISF and other stakeholders in making travel hassle-free for the differently-abled passengers.
November 12, 2021, 15:00 IST
Picture used for representational purposes.
A committee comprising all stakeholders will be set up at each of the CISF-secured civil airports that will work towards addressing travel-related issues of differently-abled passengers while there will be an "increased focus" on sensitising security personnel for handling such travellers. The decision was taken at the end of a day-long conference organised here by the airports guarding force Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) with an agenda to minimise the hassles faced by such passengers during pre-embarkation security checks.
The meeting was chaired by CISF Director General M A Ganapathy and had representatives from about 150 disability rights NGOs, airports security body the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the Ministry of Civil Aviation and CISF security chiefs of all the 64 airports under the force's cover.
The event was held at the CISF headquarters here. Some representatives took part physically while the rest joined over a web link. "We have decided to constitute a committee of stakeholders at all airports concerning the issues faced by persons with disabilities (PWDs). Also, there will be an increased focus on training and sensitisation of the personnel who are tasked to handle such passengers," CISF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and chief spokesperson Anil Pandey said.
CISF Director General M A Ganapathy told PTI that the respective panel at the airports will review the arrangements and requirements of the systems available there and help the CISF and other stakeholders in making travel hassle-free for the specially-abled passengers. "A periodic review of the achieved targets and way forward will be done every six months by way of such combined interactions on a virtual format," DIG Pandey said.
He further said that the CISF head assured the NGOs that the force "is committed to addressing issues related to differently-abled passengers and all efforts are being made to ensure that they do not face any problem at the airports."
The conference also discussed extending the 'swarnim sewa' facility, recently made operational at the Hyderabad airport, at other airports under CISF security cover. It would include the development of a mobile app and a helpline number, Pandey said.
Under the 'swarnim sewa' facility, senior citizens, differently-abled passengers, first-time fliers, pregnant ladies and other such categories of travellers are provided special assistance by the CISF personnel during entry and exit at airports.
The current security guidelines for frisking specially-abled passengers, their equipment like wheelchairs, artificial limbs and others were brought in by the BCAS following the 2016 Somalia plane bombing incident where a wheelchair-bound passenger was suspected to have carried out a blast after he tricked security at the Mogadishu airport.
381 routes & 61 airports including 5 heliports and 2 water aerodromes operationalised under UDAN scheme
The inauguration of greenfield airport in Sindhudurg marked the commencement of the 61st airport under the UDAN scheme and successful operationalisation of the 381 routes under UDAN.
Aviation security officials say while the guidelines issued by the CISF make it clear that passengers with special needs, those donning artificial limbs and on wheelchairs, need to be frisked with all due respect and courtesy, some stray incidents do take place where passengers allege they were not treated well by the security personnel. A recent case for example is that of noted dancer and actor Sudhas Chandran who issued a video statement saying she felt "humiliated" when she was asked by a CISF personnel at the Mumbai airport to remove her artificial limb.
The CISF soon after issued an apology to Chandran over social media saying, "As per protocol, prosthetics are to be removed for security checks only under exceptional circumstances." "We assure Sudhas Chandran that all our personnel will be sensitised again on the protocols so that no inconvenience is caused to travelling passengers," the CISF had said.
The CISF is designated as the national aviation security force and it functions under the Union Home Ministry. It has 64 civil airports of the country under its cover at present.
m a ganapathy
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