 "privatisation")
Cutting across party lines, Lok Sabha members on Tuesday lauded the government's efforts to rescue students stranded in war-torn Ukraine even as opposition members slammed the sale of national carrier Air India and the move to privatise airports.
Participating in the debate on the demand for grants of the civil aviation ministry, opposition members also sought to punch holes in the regional connectivity scheme UDAN of the government, contending that less than 50 per cent routes awarded under the initiative were operational and only a fraction were functioning without subsidy.
"Only 405 routes out of the 948 awarded under the regional connectivity scheme by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) since October 2016 were operational as of December 2021," Congress member Ravneet Singh Bittu said, initiating the debate in Lok Sabha.
Members also voiced concern over the high airfares on flights from Ukraine to India just before hostilities broke out in the region, which created impediments in the plans of hundreds of students keen to return form the war-torn nation.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is expected to reply to the debate on Wednesday.
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"During the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, why did this Government remain a mute spectator when private airlines charged hefty sums for tickets at their whims and fancies," CPI(M) member A M Ariff said.
A section of opposition members also questioned the need for a separate ministry for civil aviation after the sale of Air India to the Tata Group.
"This ministry is no longer in the business of running a national airline, why does it even need to be a separate ministry, what is it actually doing? Why not merge the ministry of civil aviation with the ministry of road transport or the shipping ministry and create a holistic ministry for transport," TMC's Mohua Moitra asked.
Her views were echoed by RSP member N K Premachandran and Trinamool member Aparupa Poddar.
While opposition members slammed the government for the sale of Air India to Tata Group, BJP and TDP members lauded the move and congratulated the Centre for putting the national carrier in "safe hands".
"The privatisation of Air India was a deliberate and systematic scientific activity done in a phased manner with ulterior motives with mala fide intention. It has killed Air India, and finally Air India was forcefully sold," RSP member N K Premachandran said.
Congress member Manickam Tagore opposed the sale of Air India and also slammed the government for "gifting" all six airports to the Adani Group.
Tagore wondered whether the government also planned to sell the Airports Authority of India to the Adani Group.
Congress member Su. Thirunavukkarasar urged the government to fix some ceiling on the ticket fares of the airlines.
"In the morning, sometimes the prices would be Rs 20,000 and in the evening that would touch Rs 60,000, what is the logic," he said.
BSP member Danish Ali also flagged the matter of ticket fares, stating that the government should have some control over the fares being charged by the airlines.
BJP member Rajiv Pratap Rudy made a strong case for developing 30-40 greenfield airports in the country to cater to the requirement of ever increasing number of air passengers.
Rudy, a former civil aviation minister, said the capacity of existing airports cannot be increased beyond a point even after incurring huge expenditure.
NCP member Sunil Tatkare made a strong demand for a new airport at Pune, contending that the existing airport, owned by the Indian Air Force, was inadequate to meet the growing needs of the city.
"The new airport in Pune will give a major boost to the services such as logistics, warehousing, and ground staff, and residential and industrial activity in Pune region," Tatkare said.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded simplification of the regulatory structure for the civil aviation sector.
He suggested merging the DGCA and AAI into one - Civil Aviation Authority, contending that it would help reduce regulatory burden, cut operational cost and serve as a single window clearance authority.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
