Anand Sharma gets what he created a scene for: No airport security check for MoS

New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma’s ugly spat with security personnel at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for the want of a privilege he was not entitled to has come full circle. Two months after that incident, first reported in The Sunday Express, Sharma, along with 44 other Ministers of State, has been accorded that privilege, officially: he will no longer have to undergo security checks at airports.
Clearly, the VIPs have coalesced, lobbied and successfully amended the list of those exempted from pre-embarkation security checks.
The fresh notification issued early this month by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security now has 24 categories of VIPs exempt instead of the earlier 23. The one addition is category Number 13: Minister of State in the Union Council of Ministers.
Not just that, it’s learnt that the Ministry of External Affairs is set to issue parallel orders authorising these ministers the use of the ceremonial lounge at the airport too, another privilege that Sharma insisted on using that night. Incidentally, the MEA’s protocol division comes under Sharma.
16/06/07 Pranab Dhal Samanta/Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Jun 2007, Safety Jun 2007