Shashi Tharoor, @ShashiTharoor – MP for Thiruvananthapuram:

• I am delighted to announce that the first Thermal and Optical Imaging camera with Artificial Intelligence powered face detection technology in Kerala, for the purpose of fever screening has been procured through my MPLADS fund.
• After a discussion between Collector Thiruvananthapuram K Gopalakrishnan and my team, it was brought to my attention that a Thermal Imaging camera with face detection technology was urgently needed in our district in order to scan from a safe distance and isolate those potentially having fever from among the huge influx of passenger flow that is seen at our airport and railway stations.
• This was bought to India by Sajeev Jacob, Tertabaic GMbh and Anand Mohan Raj. It was purchased through my MPLADS fund(through a proposal I had submitted last month).
• Due to the unavailability of Thermal cameras in Asia, the procurement was done in Amsterdam and was first transferred to Bonn, Germany and then subsequently airlifted on a special aircraft belonging to DHL, which was made possible by Joseph Noby, DHL South India Area Manager who helped us immensely to receive the consignment in Bangalore in 3-4 days using multiple flight connections covering Cologne, Paris, Leipzig, Brussels, Bahrain and Dubai before finally reaching Bangalore. At the last leg of the logistical supply chain, Rohith Suresh of my Thiruvananthapuram team and Anand Mohan Rajan travelled to Bangalore to receive it from DHL officials.
• The installation will be done at our Airport/Railway Station/MCH. Since all MPLADS fund has been exhausted, we are approaching other corporate groups to partner with us and the district administration to procure more of this highly sophisticated technological device prior to the huge influx of expatriates from the middle east and other areas overseas.
• I would like to thank our District collector Thiruvananthapuram K Gopalakrishnan, for the superb and effective interstate coordination and Vivekanand, Asst Commissioner, Customs for helping us with the speedy clearance of the Customs procedure.