NEW DELHI: While the airport security authorities are busy finalising their new hi-tech access card, the final list of proposals includes a card which has already got famous due to Hollywood actor George Clooney. This widely spread Aerodrome Entry Permit (AEP), issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), has Clooney’s picture with the designation as ‘manager’ and name as ‘Gagandeep Singh Kuwat’.
The card has been circulated to multiple agencies, including CISF, airlines and airport operator staff, associated with the aviation sector. A BCAS official associated with the process denied that the card was prepared by them but accepted that it was forwarded further. “The card was given to us with details as part of multiple proposals and we just forwarded it as it is,” he said, while blaming an airport management staff for the goof-up. “This was not done intentionally but one should avoid using picture of a celebrity,” the official added.
BCAS is in the process of replacing old access cards with new ones, and every staff across India will have these passes very soon. “Right now, things have not been finalised. The card would not exactly be the same but would have some similar features. It will have multiple security features, including a data chip,” he added. Currently, airport staffers have to carry two cards.
There are more than 1.5 lakh staff working across all airports of which 40 per cent belong to Indian carriers.