Trial of full body scanners at airports bear loopholes, CISF constitutes committee for examination

Installation of full body scanners at the airports assumes much importance following the fact that CISF keeps detecting illegal cash, contraband, and other non-metallic items from the airports.

New Delhi: Trial run for full body scanners conducted at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai airports have detected some shortcomings following which the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has constituted a technical sub-committee to examine, evaluate and to recommend trial directives and testing protocols of the full body scanner, said a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official on Friday.

The country’s elite industrial security force, CISF, has been trying to install full-body scanners at airports for detecting nonmetallic items on passengers once they pass through the existing door frame metal detectors. The official said that the initial BCAS deadline for installing them was march 2020, but it has been extended multiple times and is now pushed to December 2023.

Installation of full body scanners at the airports assumes much importance following the fact that CISF keeps detecting illegal cash, contraband, and other non-metallic items from the airports. From April 2022 to January 2023, CISF detected 183 pieces of ammunition and 15 arms from different airports in the country. A contraband worth Rs 14.65 lakh has also been detected by CISF during the same period.

The force is observing its 54th Raising Day on Friday. During the year 2022 & up to February 2023, CISF has inducted four new units including two Fire wings. Two units have been inducted at JSW Steel Ltd, Dolvi, Raigad (Maharastra), and Mopa Greenfield International Airport (Goa).

During the year 2022, CISF saved 41 people by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the official said. “The Aviation Security Group (ASG) of CISF has also adopted new initiatives that include improvement of interpersonal communication skills in ASG Units, buddy pairs at all levels where the personnel working in the same duty environment have been made buddies of each other. The Buddy pair system has been implemented at all Airports,” the official said.

The official further informed that small groups comprising 8-10 personnel have been set up as Samvad Samiti to discuss their personal & professional problems. “At all Airports, a welfare officer has been nominated to redress the grievances of Force personnel as well as to conduct welfare activities,” the official said.

In the year 2022, CISF has also apprehended 105 pickpockets including 104 males and one female. The official said that during the year 2022, a total of 27 suicide attempts were registered in the Delhi metro out of which three such victims were saved by CISF. 14 death cases were also registered in Delhi metro during the same period. Significantly, of the total 1,70,000 CISF personnel at present, the number of women personnel is 10,031 which is 6.7 percent.