Kochi: Devotees of Lord Ayyappa will soon have to produce their Aadhaar card as identity proof for availing of the ‘Virtual Q’ facility extended by the Kerala police under which pilgrims can reserve their slots in the special queue to have darshan at the Sabarimala hill shrine. “We’ve observed that all those who booked slots during the previous pilgrimage seasons had failed to turn up. For instance, in the previous season, though 13.5 lakh pilgrims made the online reservations, only 12 lakh utilised the facility. One reason is multiple bookings by the same persons. Hence we’re planning to make Aadhaar card (biometric identity number) mandatory to avoid the practice,” said a police officer entrusted with the management of the free web-based facility.
However, the norm will be implemented only at a later stage and the necessary software updates are being carried out, he said. Currently, pilgrims just need to upload the photo of any identity cards, including driving licence or voter’s ID card.Meanwhile, the Virtual Q booking facility for the current season starting on November 16 was opened on Monday. “We’re aiming to provide slots to 16 lakh devotes during this season out of which 10 lakh slots are open for booking in November and December,” the officer said.
The free web-based service, introduced in the 2011-12 season, enables the pilgrims to reserve their place in the special queue at a specified hour on any day when the shrine is open on a ‘first come first served basis.’ Apart from saving time for the pilgrims, the virtual Q-coupon facility acts as a crowd management tool for the Kerala police.
