The Airports across India are going through some major changes for tighter security. One such change is Aerodrome Entry Permit Card with stronger security features and issuance of new access cards. But before these cards could make their way one card got famous for a goofy mess up by the authorities. This card has the picture of Geroge Clooney, with the name as ‘Gagandeep Singh Kuwat’ and his designation as ‘manager’. The Aerodrome Entry Permit(AEP) was issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
About the change of old access cards and replacing them with new ones, a BCAS official said, “Right now, things have not been finalized. The card would not exactly be the same but would have some similar features. It will have multiple security features, including a data chip.”
The AEP’s have to pass multiple agencies before coming into usage. These agencies include CISF, airline and airport staff that are related to the aviation sector. BCAS official, who was involved in the process of giving access to the card denied its issuance but accepted that it was forwarded as it is. He said, “The card was given to us with details as part of multiple proposals and we just forwarded it as it is.” Blaming the airport staff for the mix up he said, “This was not done intentionally but one should avoid using picture of a celebrity,”
All the 1.5 lakh staff that work in Airports across India use two different access cards based on security features. In the total staff 60,000 staff members work for Indian carriers.
