The Kerala government on Wednesday assured free flights home to expatriates from the state working in the Middle-East who have not been able to visit their kin for a long time.
Announcing this after the weekly cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told media persons that with the government's dream project Air Kerala still hanging fire on account of existing aviation rules in the country, "we have decided to move forward on our own".
"The whole purpose of Air Kerala was to charge reasonable air fares from the Kerala diaspora. We all know that the numerous airlines operating the route are just fleecing passengers from the Middle-East," he said.
"Numerous requests to relax rules and thereby allow Air Kerala to take wings neither moved the previous UPA government nor the present central government. So we decided that we will fly our people from the Middle-East, who have not come home for long, for free," the chief minister said.
"For this, our Diaspora Minister K.C. Joseph has got in touch with various Kerala associations in the Middle-East to prepare a list of people who have not returned home for 10 years, seven years and five years.
30/09/15 IANS/India Today
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Announcing this after the weekly cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told media persons that with the government's dream project Air Kerala still hanging fire on account of existing aviation rules in the country, "we have decided to move forward on our own".
"The whole purpose of Air Kerala was to charge reasonable air fares from the Kerala diaspora. We all know that the numerous airlines operating the route are just fleecing passengers from the Middle-East," he said.
"Numerous requests to relax rules and thereby allow Air Kerala to take wings neither moved the previous UPA government nor the present central government. So we decided that we will fly our people from the Middle-East, who have not come home for long, for free," the chief minister said.
"For this, our Diaspora Minister K.C. Joseph has got in touch with various Kerala associations in the Middle-East to prepare a list of people who have not returned home for 10 years, seven years and five years.
30/09/15 IANS/India Today
