Digi Yatra Initiative | Facial Recognition System (FRS) to be implemented

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Digi Yatra initiative- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

The Facial Recognition System (FRS) is to be implemented in a phased manner by the government as a part of the Digi Yatra initiative.

About: Facial recognition System is part of the Digi Yatra initiative of the government for providing passengers seamless and hassle-free experience at airports.
Implementation: The first phase is planned at Kolkata, Varanasi, Pune, Vijayawada, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad Airports by March 2023.
- Preliminary testing of the Digi Yatra Biometric boarding system with registration for the ‘Day of Travel’ at these airports has been completed.

संपादकीय विश्लेषण: प्रवासी सहायता के लिए नीति की कड़ी को आगे बढ़ाएं

About: The ‘DigiYatra’ is an industry-led initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
- Digi Yatra initiative is in line with the Digital India vision which aims to transform the nation into a digitally empowered society.
Digi Yatra objective: it aims to ensure the Digital processing of passengers at the airports.
Process under Digi Yatra: Passengers will be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at checkpoints like-
- Entry point check,
- Entry into Security Check,
- Aircraft Boarding,
- Additionally, this will also facilitate self-Bag Drop and Check-in, using facial recognition to identify pax and data recall.
Pillars of Digi Yatra Initiative: Digi Yatra platform will be built on 4 key pillars, like-
- Connected Passengers,
- Connected Airports,
- Connected Flying and
- Connected Systems

Digi Yatra will facilitate paperless travel and avoid identity checks at multiple points.
It will help customers/passengers to-
- Plan their trips efficiently by identifying price trends and estimating future airfares at the time of ticket booking,
- Optionally link their Aadhaar to airlines and other ecosystem players at the time of booking for faster airport entry and automated check-ins without requiring any paper-based interventions,
- Walk-through security scanners swiftly owing to advanced biometric security solutions,
- Receive relevant information pertaining to various facilities, protocols, airline timings, queue lengths at airports etc.,
- Engage in customized digital offerings at experience zones,
- Get real-time notifications about congestion and delays to have greater visibility on the next step of the journey,
- Conveniently navigate through the airport using digital guidance systems, interactive kiosks, and augmented reality apps,
- Stay connected during flights and indulge in immersive experiences. Also, book in-flight services and destination based offerings digitally,
- Get a prompt when their luggage reaches the baggage claim belt, and
- Submit grievances, share experiences and provide feedback.