Next time you board a flight from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), be prepared to be greeted and frisked by personnel in suit and tie, quite like the US Secret Service agents. CISF, the force responsible for security of airports across the country, has given a makeover to its staff posted at the entry gate of Delhi airport. The CISF men from now on will wear suits and ties instead of the standard issue force uniform. According to officials, there was a general feeling that passengers were more comfortable dealing with well-dressed staff instead of uniformed personnel.
The staff posted at the entry gate of Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 at Delhi airport have been asked to asked to wear blue blazers and trousers with a white shirt and tie. This will give a different look and force will appear more professional,” said a CISF official. Official said that the step is part of a trial run at Delhi airport and if passenger response was favourable, then the dress code would be implemented at other airports too. About 4,500 personnel of CISF are posted at Delhi airport of which at least 70 man the gates of the airport in three shifts. Security staff at the gate check the identity cards and ticket of passengers before letting them in.
“They have also been trained in soft skills. But that doesn’t mean that they cannot prevent any terrorist attack. They have been given a weapon, which will not be visible to passengers. Apart from that, there will be armed personnel posted both outside and inside the terminal,” the official added. CISF DG OP Singh said that this was one of the many initiatives he had taken to improve the image of the force. “We had conducted trial run of baggage tag removal and now we have changed the dress code of our personnel. All these things will help create positivity about the force. We will continue taking more such initiatives for the benefit of passengers and staff, without compromising the security,” Singh said. CISF is also taking feedback from the passengers on the new look and will decide by next month whether to implement the new dress code permanently or not.
