The Hindu : New Delhi News : CPI flays ESMA against AAI staff

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CPI flays ESMA against AAI staff

Special Correspondent

“Is the country going back to the days of the Emergency?”

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Thursday strongly criticised the Government for invoking the Essential Services Commodities Act (ESMA) in Delhi in the wake of the indefinite “non-cooperation movement” by the Airport Authority of India employees.

Addressing a press conference here, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said this was the first Left-supported Government that had invoked ESMA and sought to know whether the country was going back to the days of the Emergency. Instead of doing all this, the Government should hold negotiations with the trade unions to resolve the issue as it was causing hardships to the people, he said.

‘No labour dispute’

According to Mr. Dasgupta, this was not a labour dispute nor did it involve any financial demand. It was a struggle against the colossal wastage by the Government to benefit private players.

As it is, private airlines were being given preference over the public carrier, he alleged.

Mr. Dasgupta said both the airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad could remain operational with one functioning for the domestic flights and the other for international air traffic.

The issue was raised again in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour by Basudeb Acharia of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) who said since the volume of air traffic had increased by 20 per cent over the years, there was room for both the airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad. Several members, across political affiliations, associated themselves with the issue.

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