Calcutta: A team of MPs was in town on Tuesday to scan the facilities at Calcutta airport - no, not as part of an initiative to address passenger peeves but to ensure that they and their colleagues in the parliamentary fraternity are treated "properly".
The MPs, who stayed in rooms at The Oberoi Grand, 15km from the airport, and travelled by a fleet of cars that included a BMW, were concerned about whether their colleagues passing through the city were getting escorts at the gate and proper snacks inside the integrated terminal.
The group, headed by the BJP's Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, appeared aghast at the temerity of security personnel who wanted to see their passes to confirm they were MPs. "A circular has been issued that security personnel and airport authorities will identify MPs and make arrangements for them to smoothly board flights. But this doesn't happen often," Meghwal told Metro after a meeting with the airport bosses.
The meeting, also attended by officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI)'s Delhi headquarters, saw the MPs grumble about:
♦ Airport officials not "facilitating" MPs either for departure or when they arrive in the city. Paraphrased, this means the airport doesn't provide an escort each to MPs to help them board flights or exit the terminal after arrival.
♦ Security personnel asking for identity cards because they often fail to identify MPs by face (or the size of the entourage).
♦ The quality of snacks provided to them by Air India.
♦ Lack of buggies at the airport's new terminal.
♦ Shortage of aerobridges that forces MPs to take a coach ride till the aircraft
10/02/16 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph
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The MPs, who stayed in rooms at The Oberoi Grand, 15km from the airport, and travelled by a fleet of cars that included a BMW, were concerned about whether their colleagues passing through the city were getting escorts at the gate and proper snacks inside the integrated terminal.
The group, headed by the BJP's Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, appeared aghast at the temerity of security personnel who wanted to see their passes to confirm they were MPs. "A circular has been issued that security personnel and airport authorities will identify MPs and make arrangements for them to smoothly board flights. But this doesn't happen often," Meghwal told Metro after a meeting with the airport bosses.
The meeting, also attended by officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI)'s Delhi headquarters, saw the MPs grumble about:
♦ Airport officials not "facilitating" MPs either for departure or when they arrive in the city. Paraphrased, this means the airport doesn't provide an escort each to MPs to help them board flights or exit the terminal after arrival.
♦ Security personnel asking for identity cards because they often fail to identify MPs by face (or the size of the entourage).
♦ The quality of snacks provided to them by Air India.
♦ Lack of buggies at the airport's new terminal.
♦ Shortage of aerobridges that forces MPs to take a coach ride till the aircraft
10/02/16 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph
