National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil) chairman Arvind Jadhav, who deposed before the parliamentary panel on public undertakings on Thursday over the poor performance of Air India and Indian Airlines, was ticked off sharply by committee members when he sought to offer better facilities for MPs on these flights.
Jadhav?s attempt to gain the support of the committee, that looks into the functioning of all government controlled undertakings, by the suggestion that he could make air travel for members of parliament even more comfortable clearly did not cut any ice with the panel members, who told him to restrict himself to providing satisfactory answers to the questions put up to him.
The committee on public undertakings had summoned the Nacil chairman and CMD after it decided to look into the functioning of both Air India and Indian Airlines and establish how it turned into a lossmaking concern from a profit making company. Members questioned Jadhav on a range of issues from the merger of the two airlines to purchase of new aircrafts as well as running costs. Air India, for instance, has posted losses for the last few years now. In 2008-09, its losses almost doubled to Rs 4000 crore from Rs 2226 crore in 2007-08. It has already approached the government for a bailout package. Last week pilots struck work in Air India after the management decided to go for massive pay cuts.
The Nacil chairman failed to respond adequately to the queried put to him, but in between, he suggested that he would try to enhance facilities for MPs. He was told curtly by one of the members that they did not need any more facilities, but answers to their questions. Jadhav, who took over as chairman of Nacil in May, then sought some more time from the committee to provide all the answers. He said that the pilots strike had kept the Nacil management on their toes. The committee has now decided to call the Nacil chairman once again at a later date.