Editor,
Recently, I had to attend a high profile meeting in one of the 5-Star Hotels in Guwahati. I started early from Shillong because of my scare of being held up in a traffic jam along the GS Road. Result- I arrived at the venue earlier than expected. Anyway, I proceeded to the Reception Centre where my bonafide as an invitee was confirmed through a Biometric Smart Card than through an invitation card. The organizers had asked for my biometric details days ahead of the meet, which I had submitted, and hence my possession of such a card.
No other guest had arrived. I was the first. So I had time to waste and apparently so did the two receptionists. They offered me coffee and we started talking. Curious, I asked them what it was with the Biometric ID Cards? Why didn’t the organizers simply depend on the usual ordinary cardboard invitation cards as was done before? Or easier through WhatsApp or Mail ID? The answer they gave was something that really impressed me. I’ll try to reproduce it below for the benefit of the readers.
The answer of the receptionists. “You see Sir, last meeting we held, a lot of uninvited hecklers also managed to get in and disturb the meet. It was a clear security breach. This time we decided that a stronger and more stringent invitation mechanism was required for better identification of invitees. Hence, the Biometric ID “Smart Cards”. In today’s digital world, especially with AI generating capabilities, give me a computer and a printer and I will produce you any document, with all the required Letterheads, Logos, Seals and Signatures. No one will know the duplicate from the original. Paper-based invitations are a Victorian concept. Totally outdated. Today, where ID is concerned, Biometric Smart Cards are the only way to prevent entry of fraudsters. This is the 21st Century system of checking unwelcome guests”. Well it was something I thought I had to share with the people of my state, Meghalaya.
By Toki Blah
