The civil aviation ministry will seek certification for body scanners — to be installed at Indian airports — from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) to ensure that there are no harmful effects due to any radiation, well-placed aviation sources have confirmed.
The government has already taken a decision that only non-intrusive body scanners will be installed at the airports across the country.
“The certification for the body scanners is being sought from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to assure everyone that there will be no harmful effects on account of radiation. Body scanners will be introduced on a trial basis,” said a source.
The government has evaluated that introduction of body scanners in a phased manner are a must at airports in view of terror threats to the aviation sector. The immediate trigger for this was the incident in March this year at Thiruvananthapuram following the discovery of a crude bomb-like object on the aircraft of a private airline.
Airport security is of utmost concern to the government, with growing aviation traffic and 12 new greenfield airports likely to come up across the country in the coming years.
The government’s assurance of installing only “non-intrusive” body scanners at airports was also made in March following earlier reports from across the world of passengers expressing concern over “intrusive” body scanners and violation of their privacy.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel had earlier said that the government would “keep privacy in mind” and said the body scanners would be introduced on a “conservative basis” and in keeping with the “best practices” in this regard globally. Civil aviation ministry sources have made it clear that the introduction of more modern technology in the form of body scanners would definitely help boost security at airports.