The Power of One - Rahul Banerjee and his fight to carry his GPS Device on Air Travel
I firmly believe that change will come when all of us push for change, not someone else will do it for us.
At a conceptual level, it is very simple. If we have to improve ourselves, who will put in the effort? It is me - right? So it is also the same when we want to improve our conditions. The push should come to us.
But unfortunately, it does not happen that way. In most cases, it falls through the cracks of private vs public good. While many of us are ready to make sacrifices for things that will benefit us personally, but rarely take up issues when society at large stands to benefit.
India is a developing country, and as someone said - 2% who have a voice do not need to government, and the 98% who need the government do not have a voice. And that breeds so many inefficiencies in the system, which attaches themselves to society like a leech.
The affluent have an easy solution, avoid the government and public services as much as possible. And when it is unavoidable outsource it to a middleman (and thankfully, increasingly a middlewoman).
When I was younger, this middle layer was called the agents. And now they are called consultants. But the function remained the same, greasing the palms to get some job done.
That is why when we shift cities, the first thing we seek out is who knows the Trustees of the schools we are looking at. Or do we need a Driver's license, the neighborhood agent's address is more important than the RTO address.
And despite all these, when we hit a wall we just keep quiet and take the crap. Of course, we justify it by saying we lack time, or rather “I don’t want to be in trouble”. But what we don’t appreciate is that if all of us privileged spend some time to make the system work, by avoiding the agent, by refusing to pay the bribe, by seeking redressal (often time-consuming) rather than taking shortcuts, over time we will witness significant improvements.
I always look forward to opportunities where I can play my part and also instances where someone else does the same. And I came across this episode where my friend Rahul Banerjee has moved heaven and earth for his right to carry a handheld GPS device in flight, and now we are (hopefully) on the cusp of major rectification of some stupid rules.
Rahul Banerjee is a pass-out of IIT Kharagpur and CEPT Ahmedabad but has been working for Adivasis in Madhya Pradesh for the last four decades. He is a fighter with tremendous stamina, and many of us may not be able to pursue a case like he did. But sure he can be a north star to guide.
This is the summary in Rahul’s own words:
”A major problem in this country is that its security personnel lack scientific temper and respect for human rights. Last year in June the CISF had confiscated my GPS device at Delhi Airport wrongly saying that it was a satellite phone. When I complained to higher authorities and filed an RTI application the CISF and the Government obstinately insisted that GPS devices were dangerous for aircraft operations.
Not one to give up so easily, as GPS devices are an essential tool for environmental scientists, I prepared and filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court against this gross violation of my rights. This writ petition no WP(C) 15280/2023 came up for its first hearing before re Delhi High Court on 28.11.23. My main pleas were that -
1. At the time of the confiscation there was no order prohibiting the carriage of GPS in flights as the prohibition was only on carriage of satellite phones and so this was an unlawful abuse of power by the CISF for which they must pay damages
2. Even as I was making diligent efforts under the Right to Information Act, 2005 to obtain necessary information relating to the carriage of GPS devices, and while my Appeal before the Central Information Commission regarding this unlawful abuse of power was still pending, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) issued an order dt. 19.01.2023 under sub-section 1A of Section 5A of the Aircraft Act, 1934 read with Rule 3(b) of the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2011, thereby completely prohibiting the carriage of GPS devices in air travel, in the same manner as for satellite phones.
This is even though the import of handheld GPS devices that only receive satellite signals has been free since 2011, and carriage of GPS devices by air has been permissible for at least 10 years. Today technology has advanced in leaps and bounds so that many passengers easily carry into aircraft during air travel have advanced GPS technology, but the BCAS, in its order dated 19.1.2023 completely prohibited the carriage of hand-held GPS devices during air travel.
Even a bare perusal of Sec. 5A(1A) of the Aircraft Act, 1934 makes it amply clear that the Director General (BCAS) can not issue such an or subject matter of carriage/ prohibition in carriage falls under sub-clause (l) of Section 5(2) and can only be issued by the ministry through a gazette notification. Thus the unlawful order of the BCAS should be quashed.
The government lawyer appearing for the CISF and BCAS offered to return my GPS and also ensure that I would be able to carry GPS devices unhindered on flights.
However, my lawyer said that heavy damages would have to be paid and the unlawful order would have to be quashed as it is hindering national scientific development apart from violating my rights. The CISF has been arresting people for carrying GPS devices.
The Chief Justice agreed to my lawyer's argument that it was absurd to criminalize the carriage of GPS devices in flights and admitted the petition issuing notice to the Union Government.
I have bought another GPS device so the issue is not the device itself but the regressive attitude of the security establishment and the Government which needs to be corrected to make this country a more progressive one.”
Clarification (which only adds to show the vacuousness of the policy):
Q. Are not all phones GPS Devices? Or what is a GPS device?
A. Yes all new smartphones have GPS receivers these days and that is why it is absurd to ban GPS devices. These devices have greater functionality in that they have software that enables you to measure distance, area, and height above mean sea level and also map a location. They are crucial to planning of projects for afforestation, soil and water conservation, and distributed renewable energy which are all very important for climate change mitigation. That is why this rule is a regressive one that is harmful to sustainable development.
It's been picked up by the media
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/hc-asks-centre-to-respond-to-plea-challenging-aviation-ministry-order-on-carrying-gps-devices-on-commercial-flights-news-333852
Rahul Banerjee profile:
https://www.rahulbanerjeeactivist.in/about.html