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Journalism of Courage
The Standing Committee on Civil Aviation, headed by CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Nilotpal Basu, has given its green signal to the modernisation plans for Delhi and Mumbai airports, barring the odd line asking the Civil Aviation Ministry to ‘‘examine’’ an alternate proposal by the AAI Employees Joint Forum.
The committee, in its detailed report to Parliament, has pressed for a projection of the finances needed for the modernisation of the two airports. It has also questioned the logic behind putting on hold simultaneous projects — that are above Rs 10 crore and have longer gestation periods — proposed by Airports Authority of India (AAI). Suspecting that the airlines may pass on the tax burden to the passenger, the committee has recommended that a monitoring body be set up at the earliest to ensure there is no ‘‘unjust’’ fare hike because of the tax.
