Amarnath Shrine Board makes RFID tags mandatory for pilgrims

The Amarnath Shrine Board has made Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, which help locate a person, compulsory for all the devotees taking the Amarnath pilgrimage this year.

The RFID tags would help the authorities to track a pilgrim and know about his whereabouts in case they get lost during the journey.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the shrine board, Nitishwar Kumar, asserted that the security of pilgrims is their top priority.

“The RFID tags would help in tracking a pilgrim and to let know where the person is. RFID has lots of benefits and among them, the most important one is that it would find out if there are any unauthorised persons,” said Kumar. 

The authorities also said that pilgrims can get RFID from airport and railway station. Even the local vendors would be provided with these RFID tags.  

The authorities also appealed to all those taking the yatra this year to comply with the new rule of securing RFID tags. The authorities say it's for the security of the pilgrims. 

The Amarnath yatra will be starting on June 30 and will go on till August 11. The government expects at least 600,000 pilgrims to take part in this year’s pilgrimage. 

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police chief, Dilbag Singh, reviewed the security arrangements for the Amarnath pilgrimage on Friday and asked different agencies to maintain close coordination within their ranks and among themselves for conducting the pilgrimage peacefully.

The director-general of police held a high-level meeting of officers from the police, army and central armed paramilitary forces (CAPF) at the police headquarters.

Every year, hundreds and thousands of devotees undertake this pilgrimage to offer their prayers at the Amarnath cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.

The shrine is considered to be one of the holiest temples in India. The main cave is situated at a height of 12,756 ft from sea level and remains covered with snow most of the year except for a short period of time in summer. 

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