Privatisation woes: Developer absorbs only 7% employees of Airports Authority

The fate of as many as 2,100 employees of Airports Authority of India remains uncertain as the Operation,Management & Development Agreement signed between the state-owned Airports Authority of India...

The fate of as many as 2,100 employees of Airports Authority of India (AAI) remains uncertain as the Operation,Management & Development Agreement (OMDA) signed between the state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Mumbai airports private developer,the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL),comes to an end this May after a provisional period of three years. And while the airports private developer was obliged to make employment offers to as much as 60 per cent of the AAI staff,an AAI executive confirmed that only seven per cent or 185 employees of the AAI have been absorbed by the private developer. The others face redeployment or have a choice to opt for a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) floated by the AAI.

On Saturday,as many as 2,100 AAI employees received redeployment circulars from the AAI. The employees union Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU) has gone to court and is awaiting an order on the issue. Were aware of the court cases. One has been filed in the Delhi High Court and another by the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS) in the Bombay High Court, said an AAI executive who is dealing with the redeployment of employees.

The employees,on their part,are also wary of joining the private company because it does not offer them a job guarantee. Theyre giving us a joining bonus of about Rs 80,000 and a considerable hike as well,but where is the job guarantee, said A Pannepure,AAEU regional secretary. Employees,meanwhile,have been asked not to fill any forms pertaining to either redeployment or the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) floated by the AAI.

Meanwhile,MIAL,according to its spokesperson,has already achieved about 90 per cent of its strength in terms of hiring to run the airport post-May 2,when OMDA expires. Were a total of 830 people,which is as much as 90% of our requirement,and well hire more people in the coming months as per our requirements, said the spokesperson. According to MIAL,compared to the 2,500 employees that worked at the Mumbai airport when it was run by the AAI,its requirements are just about 1,000 employees a difference of 40 per cent. Well be fully staffed by end of April, he said.

The MIAL is supposed to make an offer of as much as 60 per cent of AAI employees,which it did,according to the spokesperson. According to OMDA,the private company is also under obligation to pay for the VRS,if opted by any AAI employee in due course of time.

We are working on the policies that have been adopted, said R C Chitkara who recently took over as the regional executive director (RED),AAI,Western Region.

Nothing is clear as of now and we have to wait till either the court directive or till April when well start getting responses from employees about their preference, said an AAI executive.

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