Ajit Singh is talking about privatization of
Air India. This is what he said in the interview:
Karan
Thapar:Quite right, in retrospect we can say that it hasn't worked out .
Second even if after five years, the two airlines operate as separate entities
under the single name. For instance you have two sets of pilot, you have two
sets of cabin crew, you even have two directors of engineering. No real effort
has been made over five years to implement the merger?
Karan
Thapar:In which case minister, the obvious question is this. Do you
believe the time has come for the Government of India, to boldly and bluntly
say that our ultimate intention is to privatise Air India? And all the revival
plans were putting in the place today, are with a view to eventual
privatisation. Because the government has no business running an airline.
Ajit Singh: See,
first we have to put Air India on right track, make it viable. And then when
you look around you note the days of national carrier are gone. Any country you
look at, those days when national carrier was reality, are no longer there. So
those facts are with the government, we all know that but our priority was, our
whole effort is to make Air India, a viable entity.
It looks like he may have seen the hate mail on internet. Here is a
glimpse:
“I don`t
understand why Air India still exists, when there are enough private airlines
to do the job Just shut down the airline and dispose of all assets to repay
government for all the taxpayer money these people have wasted over the years.”
“It’s so distressing to
witness this whirlpool of selfishness - the pilots, the management and the
government, none seems to care about the plight of Air India I hope the airline
is sold away - it’s the only way we can prevent crores and crores of tax payers’
money going down the drain.”
“The blame for this sorry state of affairs of AI rests squarely on the
politicians and bureaucrats who have been milking the airlines and treating as
their private taxi service. Employees not getting their due salaries on time
and the government blames these vulnerable employees Handover the airlines to
private sector and see the same enterprise with the same people turnaround in
no time.”
Will privatisations help? It is
anybody’s guess; Mallya’s Kingfisher Airways is nose-diving in a sea of red like
a kingfisher bird nose-dives into waters.
Let us watch how the story unfolds.
Let us see whether Ajit Singh is doing sabre-rattling or is he serious. With 71
pilots already out of jobs, pressure must be building up on pilots.
But the mood of the customer and tax payer is
reflected in the comments. They want privatisation.
If it happens, out goes
Ajit Singh, the Aviation Minister, along with the pilots! Phew!!
Vivek