After Opposition noise, Ajit Singh says no intention to privatise Air India

October 7, 2013

New Delhi, Oct 7: Under attack from the Opposition, including the Left, for his remarks that Government was ready to privatise Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today backtracked saying it has "no intention" to do so.

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"This government has no intention to privatise Air India. After this package of Rs 32,000 crore, the government will not give any more money. Air India will have to fend for itself," Singh told NDTV.

While noting that it is very difficult for the government to run a service industry, Singh also said that employees and the management of Air India will have to understand that aviation is a very competitive market.

"The margins are thin and it's a capital intensive industry," the minister said.

The change of stand by the Union Minister came amid mounting pressure by the Opposition parties, which took strong objection to his earlier remark and accused him of selling public asset without bringing a civil aviation policy.

Warning the Minister against making any "off-the-cuff" remark, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said there must be a proper discussion on the issue.

"It is a serious and sensitive issue. There must be proper discussion within the government first and thereafter the views of the opposition needs to be taken," he told reporters here when asked to comment on Singh's remarks.

Asking the government not to take a "disastrous move" which will go against national interest, senior CPI leader D Raja said the government had promised to bring a civil aviation policy but did not do it in so many years.

"It is undertaking privatisation in bits and pieces without taking Parliament into confidence.

"While equity was not being infused in AI in accordance with the turn around plan, Airports Authority of India (AAI) was also being systematically undermined. This is a conscious effort to dismantle both these public sector undertakings," the CPI National Secretary said.

Raja said it was also "atrocious" that six airports including Kolkata and Chennai were being privatised soon after AAI has spent rupees thousands of crores of public money to modernise and upgrade them.

Maintaining that general elections were on the anvil, he said these decisions should be taken by the new government after the elections.

"What moral right Ajit Singh has to take such decisions on behalf of the next government," he posed.

Noting that the government had released Rs 5,000 crore instead of the earmarked Rs 8,745 crore to Air India in the last fiscal, Raja said the remaining amount was not given.

"Even the amount allotted for this financial year has not been released," he said.

Observing that privatisation was not a panacea for all evils, he said Kingfisher Airlines has shut down and there were several other private airlines which had closed shop in the early 90s.

He said private airlines also owe enormous dues to AAI.

CPI(M) MP Tapan Sen accused the government of performing "anti-national activities" by considering privatisation of Air India. "The UPA government is politically inclined to sell the country," he charged.

After spending over Rs 5,000 crore to modernise some 40 airports, it is handing over the management of these airports to private parties on a revenue sharing basis.

So, by making any investment the private parties will earn profits and the government will get only a part of the revenue after spending so much money.

On AI, he said government was going in the same direction. First, you make it bleed and then you sell it off saying it is not performing, he said.

Both Raja and Sen said they will oppose such moves tooth and nail.

Denouncing the Civil Aviation Minister's statement, CPI(M)-affiliated trade union Centre of Indian Trade Union reminded him that Air India belonged to the nation and was not the property of council of ministers.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Jammu, Jun 3: A mob on Tuesday disrupted the last rites of a coronavirus victim in Jammu and Kashmir and forced his family members to flee with the half-burnt body, prompting intervention by the administration which later ensured the cremation at another place as per protocol.

A 72-year-old man, hailing from Doda district, became the fourth victim of the novel coronavirus to die in Jammu region. He breathed his last at the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital on Monday.

"We had set out for the funeral along with a revenue official and a medical team, and had lit the pyre at a cremation ground in Domana area when a large group of local residents appeared at the scene and disrupted the last rites," son of the deceased said.

Only close relatives of the deceased, including his wife and two sons, were present during the cremation. They had to flee with the half-burnt body in an ambulance to save their skin from the mob which pelted stones and attacked them with sticks.

"We had sought permission from the government to take the body to our home district for the last rites, but we were told that all necessary arrangements were in place, and that we would not face any trouble during the cremation," the victim's son said.

He also alleged that the security officials present at the scene were of no help.

Two policemen who were present there failed to act against the unruly crowd, while the accompanying revenue official went missing, he said.

"The ambulance driver and other staff from the hospital helped us a lot and managed to take us back to the GMC hospital with the body the government should have come out with a better plan to conduct the last rites of coronavirus victims, taking into consideration the past experience and problems encountered during the funeral of such victims," the victim's son said.

Later, the body was taken to a cremation ground at Bhagwati Nagar area of the city, where it was consigned to flames in the afternoon in presence of senior civil officials, including additional deputy commissioner and sub-divisional magistrate under tight security.

"My uncle was admitted in the hospital last week and died on Monday afternoon. He was suffering from various ailments, especially lungs and heart diseases. Before shifting him to GMC hospital Jammu, he underwent a coronavirus test in Doda which came negative," nephew of the deceased said.

However, he said, the victim's second test after his admission in the GMC hospital came positive on Sunday.

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Lucknow, May 19: The administration of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) has ordered a probe into the cardiac procedure conducted on a corona positive patient in the hospital.

The patient underwent a cardiac procedure without being tested for corona before the surgery. He later tested positive for COVID-19, leading to panic among the staff and other patients.

The medical staff that came in contact with the patient were quarantined on Monday while the area was sanitized.

As per orders from the State Medical Education Department, even in emergency cases, patients are to be screened for Covid-19 before procedures are done.

According to the SGPGI administration, the incident took place late on Sunday night.

In an official statement, director, Prof R.K. Dhiman said, "The 63-year-old patient was a case of complete cardiac blockage and needed an urgent temporary pacemaker. The patient was admitted to the holding area of the institute and later shifted to the MICU for permanent pace making."

He said that when the patient's corona status was found to be positive on the Hospital Information System, she was shifted to the Rajdhani COVID Hospital.

The Director said, "Though the involved areas have been sanitized and healthcare workers were quarantined as per protocol, a probe has been ordered to investigate the lapses."

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News Network
March 11,2020

Jaipur, Mar 11: A 85-year-old man in Jaipur, who had returned from Dubai on February 28, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday.

He was found presumptive positive in the first test on Tuesday and hence, a second test was conducted with fresh samples, the reports of which arrived late Tuesday night, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh, said.

“The man who travelled to Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. It has been confirmed now,” Singh said.

“We have also got the manifest of the Spicejet flight he took from Dubai to Jaipur and are doing due diligence on that,” the official said, adding that intense contact tracing was underway.

The man has been kept in isolation at the SMS Hospital here.

“The man came to the hospital on Monday with symptoms of the virus. After the first test, his wife and son too have been kept in isolation at the hospital. The two, however, do not have coronavirus affliction symptoms,” Singh said.

A total of 235 people who came in contact with the octogenarian and his family have already been traced and are being monitored, he said.

Other contacts are also being traced, Singh added.

An Italian couple, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, are also admitted in the hospital but their condition is improving, he said.

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