New Delhi: The Union Government will set up a facial recognition-based boarding system at airports in a phased manner, Minister of State (MoS), Civil Aviation, General (retd) V K Singh said in Rajya Sabha on Monday. Singh in a written reply stated that the facial recognition system is part of the Government's Digi Yatra initiative aimed at providing passengers seamless and hassle-free experience at airports.
"The first phase is planned at Kolkata, Varanasi, Pune, Vijayawada, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad Airports by March 2023. Preliminary testing of the Digi Yatra Biometric boarding system with registration for the 'Day of Travel' at these airports has been completed," stated Singh. Asked whether the Union Government had any action plan regarding the future security scenario, the Minister said that the requirement of security is dynamic in nature.
"The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the regulatory authority for civil aviation security in the country, in consultation with other concerned agencies and stakeholders, reviews the security arrangements at airports from time to time and upgrades the same as per requirement," he added.
Singh in a separate reply said that over 1 lakh metric tonnes of perishable cargo was handled in 2021-22 at Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports. "A total of 1,08,479 Metric Tonne perishable cargo (International + Domestic) was handled in Financial Year 2021-22 (till 28 Feb. 2022) in comparison to 84, 042 Metric Tonne handled in Financial Year 2020-21 at AAI airports. Krishi Udan is an ongoing Scheme and is reviewed from time to time in consultation with stakeholders," he added,
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