 "Air India doles out free air tickets to its employees")
While its top officers like functional directors and joint managing directors are entitled to get 24 free tickets each year, deputy general managers and above get 20 passages under a scheme called Passage Entitlement-Vacation Travel.
Those in the category of assistant general managers and senior AGMs having less than 20 years of service can avail 12 such tickets and those above 20 years can get 16.
The remaining staffers, who have put in between one and 20 years of service, are entitled to eight free tickets and 12 for those beyond 20 years.
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Half of these tickets can be used for international travel, according to the scheme which also makes it clear that the number of such staff-on-leave passage would be determined by the airline's commercial department.
The scheme comes at a time when the national carrier is estimating a loss of Rs 3,900 crore in 2013-14, though it is down from Rs 5,200 crore reported in 2012-13 and Rs 7,560 crore posted the year before. The airline is also faced with a whopping debt burden of Rs 35,000 crore.
While retired employees can avail this facility on par with what they were getting at the time of superannuation, the scheme also provides that "in exceptional circumstances" an employee could use a maximum of four of his or her own passages for travel of brothers, sisters, son-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Prior to their 2007 merger, senior officials of the two erstwhile carriers used to enjoy unlimited domestic travel, which has now been discontinued.
Attacking the UPA government, Modi said the country has never seen such bad days as during the last decade when corruption and inflation were at peak and poverty was all over.
The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate said Congress had ruled the country for 60 years and it was now time for giving a chance to his party for 60 months.
"For 60 years, you have chosen rulers...I appeal to the people, you have given 60 years to rulers, now give 60 months to this 'sevak' (servant). It is time now for 'sevak'," he said while addressing the BJP gathering at Ramlila ground.
Apparently with the Aam Aadmi Party effect in mind, Modi said democracy so far has been "representative" but now it was time to make it "participatory" with greater involvement of people in governance.
Taking a dig at Rahul's contention that Congress is a "thought" which cannot be erased, he said he did not want to delve into what kind of thought it is. "But the entire Congress party is in deep thought."
Continuing his swipe, he said, "our thought is nationalism, their thought is dynasty."
He also hit out at Rahul for his remark that tickets would be given to those having Congress in their hearts. "Our thinking is that tickets be given to those who have the country in their hearts."
Rahul's other comments like 'India is a bee-hive' and 'poverty is a state of mind' also came in for attack from Modi. "For us, India is our mother and the poor should be treated like god," he said.