By end of 2011, well-trained intelligence bureau officials will man immigration counters.
If everything goes according to the plan, then very soon your immigration woes at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport will come to an end.
The central intelligence bureau (IB) is said to have begun the process of taking over the immigration clearance duties from the city police.
The development also means that instead of being questioned by the police, well-trained and soft-spoken immigration officials will talk to you at the international terminal. Moreover, the strength of officials manning the immigration counters will also be doubled. At present, there are 30 counters of which only six are being utilised.
Sources at the airport said that the process of taking over immigration duties had already begun and that changes were likely to be effected by the end of this year. They said that passengers and flight movements at the airport are increasing, making it prone to misuse by criminals.
“IB is gradually taking over all the international airports in the country because of security concerns and the lax attitude of local police. Even the home ministry has accepted the decision to have IB across the airports,” sources close to the development said.
As of now immigration procedures at seven airports—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Hyderabad—are being looked after by Bureau of Immigration (BOI) in which IB officials work as Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs).
The rest of the airports are being managed by the local police known as Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs).
“The development has come to our notice but we are yet to get any official confirmation in this connection,” said joint police commissioner (Sector 1) Satish Sharma who is in charge of the special branch that takes care of the immigration cell at SVP airport.
Sharma told DNA that whether the IB took over immigration or not, the department was going to increase the number of check-in counters at immigration for quicker clearance. “More officials will also be deployed soon,” he said.
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