Parl panel at odds over plan to sell AI

NEW DELHI: Opposition members in the parliamentary panel on transport claimed on Tuesday that the controversial draft report opposing Air India’s disinvestment is back on the table, only to be refuted by the BJP members.

A BJP leader who is a member of the panel said, “during the meeting on Tuesday, the civil aviation secretary was asked to respond to some of the issues raised by Air India employees’ unions. Chairman Derek O’brien assured us that we are not discussing that draft report.” The controversial draft had mentioned several demands.

Last month, when O’brien was absent in a meeting, BJP members of the parliamentary committee on transport forcibly withdrew the panel’s “adverse” draft report on Air India’s divestment.

The draft report had slammed the government’s plan to disinvest the ailing national carrier and suggested that the airline must continue to be state-owned, albeit with less government control. It gave as many as eleven reasons why the government should not sell stake in AI to other airlines.

The withdrawal of the controversial draft became a sore point between the ruling and the Opposition members. On Tuesday, the Opposition leaders claimed that the draft has been “brought back and the discussions were held as a part of that process.”

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey, DGCA Director General B S Bhullar, Air India CMD Pradeep Singh Kharola and Pawan Hans CMD B P Sharma were among the officials who were present at the meeting.