TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi today asked the government to reconsider the decision of disinvestnment of the national carrier Air India.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Trivedi said "we are proud of Air india. The problem is with its management by the government. It has the best staff. I urge the government to kindly reconsider the decision."
"The non-performing assets (of banks) in the private sector too are in crores of rupees and that is also the government's money," he said, adding that the airline has made operational profits.
"I compare Air India with the AIIMS" which is a premier institution bogged down by huge number of patients, he said.
Noting that Air India has stood the test of time, Trivedi said the airline has really served the country well, including at the times of evacuation of Indians from different parts of the world hit by crises. The Prime Minister of the country too travels by Air India One, he said.
The airline, which is staying afloat on a little over Rs 30,000 crore bailout package extended by the previous UPA regime, reported an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in 2015- 16 -- the first time it turned operationally profitable in a decade.
The Cabinet has given its in-principle approval for divestment and the final contours are being worked out by a group of ministers.
Raising the issue of athlete P U Chitra, Congress leader K C Venugopal slammed the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for not including her in the World Athletics Championships in London next month.
"AFI is not hearing...They are not doing nothing. The Federation is not promoting this girl from Kerala," he said demaning an inquiry on the matter.
M K Raghavan (Congress) asked for setting up of a national level commission for financially backward classes of forward communities who are below the poverty line. "Till now, nothing has happened," he said.
Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP) said that Assam was suffering from floods and the government should send an inter- ministerial team to assess the situation.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (BJD) demanded that renowned shooters should be exempt from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with respect to import of equipment.
He also said that shooting sport has become expensive after the implementation of GST.
Raising the issue pertaining to medal winners at the recently concluded Deaflympics in Turkey, RSP's N K Premachandran said there was no one to receive them at the Delhi airport when they came back after the event.
He also said gold medal winners of Paralympic are given Rs 75 lakh by the government, whereas those of Deaflympics are given only Rs 15 lakh and sought a reply from the government.
M B Rajesh (CPI-M) urged the government to re-consider the decision of strategic disinvestment in state-owned BEML and said the move would be like killing the goose that gives golden eggs.
BEML contributed around Rs 6,500 crore in taxes and dividends to the government in the last ten years, he noted.
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