(a) whether the Government proposes to install facial recognition system at airports;
(b) if so, the name of the airports were the said system is likely to be operated along with the time by which it is likely to be installed;
(c) whether the Government has fixed any time limit for implementation of this system; and
(d) the various other benefits which are likely to be generated with the implementation of the said system?
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) to (c): Yes Sir. Facial Recognition System is part of the Digi Yatra initiative of the Government. Digi Yatra is a passenger processing system being implemented by airports in phased manner. The first phase of Digi Yatra will be implemented tentatively by end of the year 2021 at Kolkata, Varanasi, Pune, Vijayawada, Bangalore and Hyderabad airports.
(d): The benefits of implementation of Digi Yatra System include:
I. Passengers will have paperless and hassle free processing at airports from entry gate to the boarding gate.
II. Airports will have real time information of passengers and their location for decision making.
III. Security will be enhanced due to facial recognition based identification and real time check of passenger ticket status.
IV. Airports will have real time information on the efficiency of various check points.