PM Modi should pull up Finance Ministry: Swamy on Air India debacle

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider the issues related to debt-ridden Air India and pull up the Finance Ministry among others for trying to privatise the national carrier.

On Friday, it was reported that Air India has again failed to disburse the salaries of their employees on time for the fifth consecutive month. The people working for the national carrier are yet to receive their payment for the month of July.

“It is being deteriorated on purpose. The Finance Ministry does not have any justification for not giving Rs 10,000 crore. It’s a state-run airline, which has a huge property. All are trying to privatise it. The Prime Minister should interfere in this matter and order them to give all relevant demands. We need to make it a spectacular airline, which it was at one point. Till 2004, it was giving profits, but after that, it was looted under the UPA government. The Prime Minister needs to pull up the Finance Ministry,” Swamy told ANI.

On May 31, the government said that it has failed to receive any single bid for the strategic disinvestment for the loss-making carrier.

Following that, in June Air India had invited bids for Rs 1,000-crore Short Term Loan (STL) from financial institutions and banks to meet its "urgent working capital requirements."