It is not Government’s duty to run airports and airlines; says Puri

 

The Civil Aviation Minister on Sunday said that the Government should not open airlinesas of now. He also added that he hopes that India will be able to privatize Air India during 2020.

The remark came amid the controversy in Kerala wherein the Kerala Government has shown its disagreement on the decision of the Union Cabinet to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram airport to Adani Enterprises under the public-private partnership (PPP) model for a period of 50 years. The decision was announced on August 19.

Puri was attending a virtual meeting on the Namo App, when he became vocal about the issue. He said, “I can tell you from my heart the government should not be running airports and the government should not be running airlines.” It is to be noted that The Centre-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) currently owns and manages over 100 airports including the one in Thiruvananthapuram.

Puri also talked about the privatization of Air India and said, “As a going concern, one that is attractive to potential bidders, we should privatize it (Air India). And I am hopeful that we will be able to complete that privatization process during this year.”

The Government started the process of privatization of Air India in January 27. Recently the government has to extend the deadline of bidding for the company till October 31 considering that the economy is severely hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. “If the government runs an airport or an airline, then they have to follow the government rules like L1 and L2, and that is not how commercial entities can run,” Puri said.

However, the Thiruvananthapuram airport issue has remained a core topic of discussion during the meeting. Earlier Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue. “In view of the unilateral decision taken by the Government of India without giving credence to the cogent arguments put forward by the State government, it will be difficult for us to offer cooperation to the implementation of the decision, which is against the wishes of the people of the State,” he said in the letter.

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The situation in India troublesome despite al the efforts: COVID-19 Update

India is becoming more and more badly hit by the Coronavirus. The rising number of cases have made others doubt India health infrastructure and create fear for the unknown time extending. 

Tuesday went by as a worst day so far with over 48000 people detected affected. Now, India has a total 1.5 million affected people making it the 3 worst hit country in the world. Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are the three states that have recorded the highest number of cases. 

On Tuesday only, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that there were 528,082 COVID-19 tests conducted across the country. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi also launched different facilities in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Noida for enhancing the testing ability of the nation. These facility have capability to conduct 10000 tests in a day.

"Friends, the way right decisions were taken at the right time has resulted in our country being in a far controlled situation compared with other countries," the PM said on TV during the address after the launch.

However, despite all the efforts things are becoming tough for India. Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Washington-based Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in a private interview with a leading media house says, "It is going to be a tough few months ahead, but there is effectively no brake on the virus, and I don't expect a decline for quite some time."

India is facing a tough time. The country is trying its level best to fight the lethal virus but the conditions are troublesome at present.

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