AI spectacle or logistical mess? Media hunt for lanyards at the India AI Summit

New Delhi: On Monday, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam, the spotlight outside the venue was not on artificial intelligence breakthroughs but on access confusion, missing lanyards and contradictory instructions.

Several journalists who had registered in advance said they were left uncertain about their accreditation status despite receiving QR codes via email.

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With no resolution at the venue, they made their way to the National Media Centre, hoping to collect their lanyards there. What they encountered was a maze of numbers and unclear accountability. A National Media Centre official said, “We have 72 cards in hand that are printed. We have 400 names on the list. We don’t know how many total registrations have been done. The PIB official will tell you.”

At the Press Information Bureau (PIB) desk, the figures were different. A PIB official said, “We have received 1,600 registrations. 1,500 have been printed. Around 100 media persons are still pending. We haven’t printed those 100 lanyards because they don’t have a unique code on their QR.”

When asked whether receiving a QR code meant the registration was approved, the PIB official clarified, “A QR code means the registration is approved. But if the unique code is missing, the lanyard is not printed. Even we are trying to understand this lapse. There are some people who have a QR, but they don’t have the unique ID. We are also trying to figure this out.”

So QR meant approval, but not necessarily access! Some journalists had QR codes without unique IDs. Others had neither clarity nor cards. The buck, meanwhile, was passed across departments.

An official from the Ministry of External Affairs said, “We are only distributing lanyards. We don’t know what the process is to get one. It comes under the electronics department. Please ask them.”

Another official added, “The National Media official will tell you how to get the lanyard. We can’t help you.”

On the ground, frustration was evident. A TV9 journalist said, “I have come here to get my lanyard, but I don’t think I’m going to get it.”

A representative from another publication, The Secretariat, said, “We have just received a QR code by email, but we don’t know what to do with it. It doesn’t have a unique code, and we haven’t received our lanyard.”

Reporters from ET were also grappling with the issue. While one reporter managed to receive the required code, another was still trying to figure out how to obtain it. “I don’t have it, and I don’t want to attend now! It’s very chaotic,” he said.

Others were told their card “hasn’t arrived” and may be issued at the summit venue itself. Some were advised to “do it via Digi Yatra” without clarity on how that would translate into entry credentials.

For those who had travelled from outside Delhi, the confusion was more than an inconvenience.

An editor from a Chennai-based regional newspaper said, “I have come from Chennai to cover the AI summit. I got my QR code, but my name is not on the list. I haven’t received my lanyard.”

The central issue appeared to be a disconnect between approved registrations and printed credentials. While officials maintained that a QR code signified approval, the absence of a “unique ID” prevented the generation of physical lanyards. The lack of clarity on which department was responsible for resolving the glitch only compounded the uncertainty.

As evening approached, several journalists were still unsure whether they would gain entry the following day.

For an event designed to project technological precision and digital efficiency, the accreditation scramble became an unexpected subplot, one that underscored the challenges of execution in high-security, high-profile gatherings.

QR codes had been generated. Some even got the approval emails. But for many on the ground, access remained out of reach.