TLI Staff
New Delhi: In what seems a delayed but concerted attempt, the employee unions of sale-bound Air India has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not disinvest the national carrier which has been viewed as a jewel and pride of India.
As many as seven unions of Air India representing pilots, engineers, ground staff and others have suggested that a professional Board could be constituted to run the airline as in case of engineering major L&T and diversified group ITC.
“The need of the hour, and of great importance, is for Air India to be a Board managed company run by professional managers like at ITC and L&T,” the union have said.
The unions have noted that Air India has been making operating losses for the last three years but due to high debt burden it has not been able to make net profit.
“Servicing the loans is a major challenge as the annual outgo is in upwards of Rs 4,000 crores. We urge the Government of India to consider waiving off the credits and have the airline run by professional management,” the letter signed collectively by the union office bearers said.
TLI has reviewed the letter which has also been forwarded to Home Minister Amit Shah.
The letter said that Air India can be turned around and run successfully in the hands of professionals if the government intends for it to.
“It is up to you, Hon’ble Prime Minister, to decide the fate of Air India, and consequently the course of its history,” the letter said.
The government has decided to completely exit the airline with Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri going to the extent of saying that the carrier would be shut down if disinvestment bid fails this time.
The government had invited the bid to sell Air India last year but none of the private companies showed interest in buying 76 per cent of the government stake on offer. This is the second attempt of the Modi government to sell the carrier.
Facing financial stress, Air India has managed to stay afloat with government pumping in over Rs 30,000 crore into it. The bail-out plan had been cleared by the UPA-II government in 2012 with the total financial support spread over 10 years.
While Air India employee unions had earlier been aggressive in opposing the government move to privatise it, their response has largely been weak this time around. This is perhaps for the first time in the last one year that the unions have made collective effort to stall disinvestment.
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