Babus just won’t fly Air India

Mumbai: Ministers and bureaucrats were asked to do one thing to help save the loss-making national carrier: to use it, and that too at the government’s expense. Still, it seems that Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel’s plan to help the troubled carrier has failed to take off, because most still prefer using private airlines.
On July 13, the Union Finance Ministry issued an order asking all ministers and bureaucrats to travel only by the national carrier for official tours. The move was aimed to help the loss-making airline generate revenue.
However, records obtained from the Civil Aviation Ministry under the Right to Information Act reveal that between July 13 and August 31 alone, 387 applications were made by ministers, bureaucrats, diplomats and members of the armed forces requesting permission to travel in private airlines. Sixty-seven of these were from Central ministers.
Patel’s ministry - which is empowered to grant exemptions to permit travel by other airlines – approved all but two of the applications.
Among those who chose not to fly AI were Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Minister of New and Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah and Deshmukh’s deputy Arun Yadav, each of whom secured exemptions not once, not twice, but five times. Former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam was also granted permission to travel Delhi-Pune-Mumbai on a Jet Airways flight.
Not all reasons seem justified. In fact, records show that in 14 applications from Central ministers, no reason was cited at all, but they were still accepted.
29/10/09 Aneesh Phadnis/Mumbai Mirror

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Categories: NACIL Oct 2009