Show your finger: India to foreigners

Show your finger: India to foreigners

PTI[ THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2004 09:56:14 PM ]


NEW DELHI: Concerned over recent incidents of rape and killing of foreign tourists, the Union tourism ministry would soon introduce 'tourist cards’ to ensure the safety of international guests.



"We are in the process of consulting the law ministry in a bid to come out with a tourist card system with the help of an appropriate legislation," tourism minister Renuka Choudhary said.



The card would help local authorities keep track of the movements of foreign tourists to ensure their safety and also check them from indulging in any unlawful activity, she said.



Choudhary said the card, which would act as an identification document, will bear finger-impression and photograph of the tourist and he would not have to carry his passport everywhere during the stay in the country. The card would also enable tourists avail special discounts and other facilities in India, she said.



The minister also emphasised upon the need to create and revive the country's "old ethos of hospitality" in the form of an advertisement campaign." We are planning to soon come out with an advertisement campaign in a bid to revive the ethos of India that respect the guest as God," she said.



The ministry will also give orientation to taxi drivers, hoteliers and all those connected with tourism to make them understand benefits of the tourism industry, Renuka said.



Admitting that various incidents such as the WTC attack, bird flu and Sars have hit the tourism sector "very badly" all over the world in the last few years, the minister said there has to be a "collective effort" to revive and promote the industry.

If form is followed, the phrase "avail special discounts" will likely mean "avail inverse discounts", or in more plain English, " a government approved rodgering". Or is that just too cynical?

Yeah, once your are marked with this card, you will be an easy touch everywhere (as a foreigner).

a piece of paper to ensure safety . . . .
BaBu job safety

Lets hope this never sees the light of day as I'm sure there are ulterior motives on this one!!

Hasn't the good Ole "C form " done exactly that for the last 20 years???

"C Form" ? the one you have to fill in at every hotel you stay at in India!

Maybe, in the style of migratory-bird researchers, they could tag us all as we come into the country instead.

wonder what the "fee" is for this card? that's probably the motive.

Foreigners, please don’t get a shock if these jokers of democracy try to put a “Radio Collar” to track your movement.

When I read "show your finger" I thought of something I learnt in Gujarat.

If you waggle your little finger on your left hand it means you want to go for a pee.

Not sure if this works for the ladies though.

I considered the merits of waggling my larger middle finger, but decided against it as my sense of humour doesn't travel well.

"Choudhary said the card, which would act as an identification document, will bear finger-impression "

What a bloody joke - next they will be scraping the inside's of mouth. Its the usual story of the joker's we call Indian politicans living in their own world. Here take 2

God you people are such cynics : ))

I don't think it is completely a bad idea. I am not sure about the tracking and I am less worried about the finger printing. Even America finger prints people coming in. I have no idea what they mean by “tracking”. RFID? I doubt they could do that even if they wanted to do that, because any tourist could at any point chose not to use the card during their trip and there goes the tracking ability.

But what’s wrong with a card especially if as they say it can be used in lieu of a passport. And what wrong with discounts proposition. If the card ends up increasing your costs, people simply wont use them. If the ministry is smart I would charge say a hundred rupees for the card, and allow a 200 rupee discount at the Taj. (You could also pick one major destination in the east, west and south) This would ensure that a majority of tourists would get them in the first place. And once that happens, you can add on other functions, perhaps the card could serve as your international driver’s license, and if you’re willing to drive in India, they should include medical details like blood group and emergency contact address. Perhaps if you choose to get the card, it could also serve as your India rail pass. Even serve as a debit card at Indian ATMs (You make a one time deposit and then withdraw money as you travel. No more travelers checks.) Perhaps even allow you to legally lease a cell phone while you travel (I think the way it works now you need a local address to do this.)

Man, I wish I was a government “Babu”, I could come up with these “schemes” all day! And by all day I mean, the time between my three hour lunch and my two hour chai-break. : ))

The better to keep track of who to overcharge.

<cynic>
aren't blue eyes and white skin a pretty good indicator that you are a foreigner? I've never been mistaken for an India yet....
</cynic>

I have. My appearance is just confusing enough to throw people off. Add to that a decent amount of Hindi or Malayalam and you're all set.

first of all blue eyes is more than enough to make me a sucker. Doesn't matter if she is from india/america/timbuktu or for that matter Mars/Venus.
Another Gentoo like u'r nick. Are u into gentoo, I'm myself a debian guy (currently tasing Ubuntu) soon to play with Mepis. Cool distros.RFID is nascent here in India. I think the fingerprinting is more to become part of a central database so in case of some untoward event happening they know u'r details & can inform the proper authorities/families. Also makes it easier to clear/clear the books(closure of some sort). This might seem heartless but it would be for sure efficient.
In fact my intro to the forum was by a couple who were searching for their lost son on india mike & somebody told them about indiacaravan where I'm one of the moderators.
Hence, for sure there might be some big-brother & number-crunching analysis but if it relieves some heart burns also then much better.