For AAI, staff relocation a mammoth task

New Delhi: Three years after the Delhi and Mumbai airports were privatised amid protests from the employees of Airports Authority of India (AAI), another agitation might be brewing against the authorities.
The two airports have about 4,000 AAI employees who worked there for three years and after that they were supposed to either go back to the parent organisation or be absorbed by the joint ventures. However, less than 5% have joined the GMR and GVK-led Delhi and Mumbai airport JVs even after the two airports will complete three years of privatisation on May 3.
Which means that AAI is now facing the task of relocating redundant employees to other places where it runs airports. And the problem is that people who have lived all their life in Delhi and Mumbai are very reluctant to go to smaller towns. A section of employees even moved court for being retained in these metros.
"We asked these employees to give their preferred choice of posting as the authority does not want to force its choice on them. So far about 1,250 employees 250 executives and 950 workers have given their posting," said a senior official. The authority is also introducing voluntary retirement scheme for employees for which GMR and GVK groups have been asked to pay about Rs 423 crore initially. "Our anticipation is that up to 1,500 employees may take the VRS," said the official.
Even after counting out those who accept VRS and have given some choice of posting, the government still faces the daunting task of 1,300 to 1,400 employees unwilling to move out of Delhi and Mumbai.
08/04/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Apr 2009