The Left Democratic Front (LDF)-led State government will fight tooth and nail the Centre’s move to privatise the Thiruvananthapuram international airport, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said.
He was speaking after inaugurating a ‘Black Day’ observance, organised under the aegis of the LDF district committee here on Monday, in protest against the proposed move. The Union government had last month cleared a proposal to lease out six airports, currently operated by the Airports Authority of India, for management under public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Mr. Balakrishnan said the contentious move was in contravention of an agreement, which he claimed, required the State’s consent prior to initiating steps to privatise the airport. “The State has already commenced efforts to dissuade the Centre from going ahead with the move.
Union Minister apprised
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has conveyed the government’s stance to Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu,”he said.
The Chief Minister had stated that the government was willing to constitute special purpose vehicles to manage the airports in Thiruvananthapuram and Karipur, if the need arose.
Mr. Balakrishnan said the move to privatise the airports was being made despite the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) having flagged various violations in the management of the Mumbai and Delhi international airports, which had been privatised earlier.
