surya kiran
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Pathetic.
Accord royal treatment to MPs, private airlines told
NEW DELHI: Being treated like a Maharaja by Air India alone is not enough for our status-conscious members of Parliament. The aviation ministry now wants all private airlines to also accord royal treatment to nearly 800 members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The red carpet they are expected to roll out will include a designated protocol officer meeting MPs when they reach the airport and escort them to lounge. Check-in will be done by staff when the netas are resting there and having free refreshments. After that, they will be zipped through immigration and/or security checks to an aircraft waiting for them to board so that it can take off! Similar courtesy will have to be accorded on arrival too.
While the ministry on Wednesday evening issued a statement saying the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) "has not given any instruction to private airlines to extend facility to MPs", the minutes of a meeting held in DGCA on December 16, 2013, clearly shows how it plans to bring private airlines on a par with Air India — when it comes to making MPs their real Maharaja.
The meet was a fallout of a "committee on violation of protocol norms and contemptuous behaviour of government officers with members of the Lok Sabha" telling the ministry that "airports and airlines are not adhering to the guidelines on protocol norms and courtesy to be extended to MPs". This panel is a part of the MPs' privileges' committee. The aviation ministry had in May 2007 issued guidelines on the issue of special handling of MPs. "These instructions are not being meticulously adhered to," the minutes of the DGCA meet say.
The ministry representative at this meeting blamed airlines for this lapse. According to the minutes, a representative of GMR Group (which runs Delhi and Hyderabad airports) diagnosed why MPs were being inconvenienced. "They (GMR) have established a procedure for extending courtesy to MPs with AI alone. The same can include other domestic airlines also," the note says.
At this point, the reason for aam aadmi treatment of MPs was discovered — the 2007 order directing airlines to accord special handling to MPs included only AI's name. The ministry representative was asked to "include the name of other airlines companies including low cost carriers" in that order.
The minutes of the meeting says some decisions were taken after this. "The ministry representative was advised to draw comprehensive guidelines for extension of protocol norms/courtesy to MPs based on their expectations from airport/domestic airlines. The guidelines should also include the names of other airlines in addition to AI," it says.
Airlines and airports have been asked to make available list of protocol officials who could be told about the flying plans of MPs. Unlike state-funded AI, LCCs thrive on a low cost model. So the meeting decided "LCCs should pool in airport resources to extend protocol norms and courtesy to MPs".
The minutes were sent to all airports and airlines on January 3. "It is not a formal order but even a communication from DGCA on such an issue cannot be disregarded," said an LCC official.
Accord royal treatment to MPs, private airlines told
NEW DELHI: Being treated like a Maharaja by Air India alone is not enough for our status-conscious members of Parliament. The aviation ministry now wants all private airlines to also accord royal treatment to nearly 800 members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The red carpet they are expected to roll out will include a designated protocol officer meeting MPs when they reach the airport and escort them to lounge. Check-in will be done by staff when the netas are resting there and having free refreshments. After that, they will be zipped through immigration and/or security checks to an aircraft waiting for them to board so that it can take off! Similar courtesy will have to be accorded on arrival too.
While the ministry on Wednesday evening issued a statement saying the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) "has not given any instruction to private airlines to extend facility to MPs", the minutes of a meeting held in DGCA on December 16, 2013, clearly shows how it plans to bring private airlines on a par with Air India — when it comes to making MPs their real Maharaja.
The meet was a fallout of a "committee on violation of protocol norms and contemptuous behaviour of government officers with members of the Lok Sabha" telling the ministry that "airports and airlines are not adhering to the guidelines on protocol norms and courtesy to be extended to MPs". This panel is a part of the MPs' privileges' committee. The aviation ministry had in May 2007 issued guidelines on the issue of special handling of MPs. "These instructions are not being meticulously adhered to," the minutes of the DGCA meet say.
The ministry representative at this meeting blamed airlines for this lapse. According to the minutes, a representative of GMR Group (which runs Delhi and Hyderabad airports) diagnosed why MPs were being inconvenienced. "They (GMR) have established a procedure for extending courtesy to MPs with AI alone. The same can include other domestic airlines also," the note says.
At this point, the reason for aam aadmi treatment of MPs was discovered — the 2007 order directing airlines to accord special handling to MPs included only AI's name. The ministry representative was asked to "include the name of other airlines companies including low cost carriers" in that order.
The minutes of the meeting says some decisions were taken after this. "The ministry representative was advised to draw comprehensive guidelines for extension of protocol norms/courtesy to MPs based on their expectations from airport/domestic airlines. The guidelines should also include the names of other airlines in addition to AI," it says.
Airlines and airports have been asked to make available list of protocol officials who could be told about the flying plans of MPs. Unlike state-funded AI, LCCs thrive on a low cost model. So the meeting decided "LCCs should pool in airport resources to extend protocol norms and courtesy to MPs".
The minutes were sent to all airports and airlines on January 3. "It is not a formal order but even a communication from DGCA on such an issue cannot be disregarded," said an LCC official.
