At airport Minister fights for VVIP status

New Delhi: Officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had to face the rage of a Union minister last week when he was told to follow procedures as a regular passenger and undergo immigration and security checks.
The CISF Director General, R K Das, has written to the Cabinet Secretariat, Home Ministry and Civil Aviation Ministry detailing the sequence of events and asking the authorities to “suitably inform” the Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma that he does not fall in any of the categories accorded ceremonial facilities and exemption from pre-embarkation checks.
Sharma was to take the Air-India flight to London on the night of April 20. The MEA, which handles protocol at IGIA’s ceremonial lounge, arranged for Sharma’s access even though he is not officially entitled to use this facility.
The problem started when the CISF personnel posted there insisted that he undergo pre-embarkation—immigration and security—checks just like any other passenger and reach the boarding gate through the normal channel.
Sharma is said to have insisted on using the special passage meant for VVIPs on the list of 23 persons/categories exempt from such checks. Frustrated by repeated denials, the DG’s letter states, the Minister “flew into a rage” and spoke to the CISF Director General over the phone well past midnight.
The CISF letter claims that the door leading to the boarding area from the ceremonial lounge was opened for Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who was returning from Cyprus, and, at that moment, Sharma also walked through the gate “without pre-embarkation security check”.
29/04/07 Pranab Dhal Samanta/Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Apr 2007, Foreign Apr 2007, Safety Apr 2007