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Towards smoother modernisation

After the four-day strike by the forum of employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), most of the airports had been reduced to garbage dumps. That a majority of the flights were operated from the second day of the strike was some comfort to the passengers, who were put to a lot of inconvenience and trouble. On the third day itself, there were indications that the public and political mood would make the continuance of the strike difficult beyond a period. But even after the meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the AAI employees did not call off the strike. They had another meeting with Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel after an inconclusive round of discussions in their forum. To Mr. Patel's credit, he did as much as he could to reassure the employees that their jobs would be protected, their grievances addressed, and their alternative proposal for modernisation considered for other airports. But he made clear that the decision to go ahead with the New Delhi and Mumbai projects would stay. Having got such a comprehensive assurance, part of it in writing, the employees were expected to withdraw the strike. But apparently, there were some difference of opinion among the unions, which perhaps explains why one more day was needed for them to take that decision. The backing that they got from the influential Left parties, whose leaders also met the Prime Minister to discuss their demands, has certainly helped the AAI employees reach this far.

Aside from the core issue of whether the Government should stop with just modernisation and not push for even partial privatisation — on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis — the concerns voiced by the striking employees need to be addressed. Now that a section of the employees and the Anil Ambani-led Reliance group have challenged the Centre's decision on awarding the Delhi and Mumbai airport projects, the right thing to do will be to wait for the courts to decide whether the procedures and processes followed were in order. One key issue will be whether the decisions of the Empowered Group of Ministers were in keeping with the conditions laid down at the `Request for Proposal' stage. Having failed to clinch the deal, the Reliance enterprise is not going to leave any stone unturned in asserting its rights under the terms of the bidding. Considering the importance of these two airports and the need to upgrade them to international standards, it may be worthwhile pushing ahead with this exercise through the legally correct forum. Now that the AAI employees can pursue the option of their alternative proposal for other airports, it is up to them to convince the Government and the public that they can design and build world-class terminals and facilities that will be able to cope with future demands. A dialogue with them will certainly make the process of modernisation of airports much smoother.

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