The Civil Aviation Ministry is set to focus on Air India so that the national carrier can suitably project India’s image abroad, the visiting minister for Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation, Vayalar Ravi has said.
“We want Air India as the face of our country,” Mr. Ravi observed on Tuesday during a press conference at Abu Dhabi.
However, aware of the enormity of the task, Mr. Ravi cautioned that such an exercise can be successful only through a collective effort of all the stakeholders involved. The minister said that during his on-going visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he had met the host country’s Labour Minister, Saqr Ghobash. On Tuesday, discussions had been held on fine-tuning the existing MoU on labour between India and UAE. The minister added that India was willing to include some of the pro-labour suggestions that the UAE minister had made. He invited Mr. Ghobash to visit India where the new MoU is likely to be signed following Cabinet approval.
Mr. Ravi said that Indian workers’ welfare funds had been established in almost all Indian missions, with their quantum based upon the numerical strength of the Indian community in the host country.
