Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi is fighting the battle of his life to save national carrier Air India from bankruptcy. But it's not an easy job.
In an exclusive interview to Headlines Today, Ravi says he has to beg the Finance Ministry every month to pay salaries of Air India employees.
"Every month end I go to Pranab Mukerjee's house at 12 o'clock in the night and so he asks me 'why have you come?' To which, I say I need Rs 200 crore. Arre Rs 200 crore in the night? Which means, I have to get the money from him for the salaries also. I need to be in a position, where I can depend on myself. That is my first step," Ravi told Headlines Today on Tuesday.
This is sorry tale of a man with perhaps the toughest job in government right now: turning around the troubled national carrier.
The minister claims he has already started working towards it.
"The various directors for important posts are missing. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told me to appoint members from the open market and most of them have been filled now: HR, finance, marketing and commercial and also certain propositions. So, the team has come. Now, we are looking at the process, by which we can help save the posts, save the money and the areas from where we can get more cash flow," says Ravi.
But the biggest problem at hand continues to be the delay in the payment of salaries of the AI employees.
"The government has to pay the salaries. I have already told the people to work and I will pay them the money. The income has to increase," he said.
Air India has already been censured by the CAG on the arbitrary decision to add aircraft.
The CAG report stated: Air India "hastily reworked" old acquisition plan, adding 40 costlier aircraft. Final approval was granted in 10 days. "Risky acquisition...clearly driven under the influence of the aviation ministry," it said.
Ravi clarified on the controversial issue of the purchase of aircraft from Boeing.
"The 27 aircrafts, which have been ordered, have still not come in. We never created confusion over what we wanted and what we did not want it," he added.
But despite everything, the government seems to have no clearly defined strategy to bail out the national carrier.
When asked if foreign aircrafts companies have proposed investments for Air India suggesting a merger perhaps in the future, he said, "I don't want to comment on any mergers."
The government, it seems, has run out of ideas even as losses touch Rs 40,000 crore.
Meanwhile, the opposition continues to target the government, blaming it for the present plight of Air India.
CPI leader D. Raja said. "It shows the frustration on part of the civil aviation minister. It also shows how government functions. There is no proper coordination between the Finance and the Aviation ministries."
Raja added, "Instead of expressing frustration, the minister should be realistic. Today, Air India can be turned around. AI has infrastructure, personnel and the potential for a revival. There is no reason for it to incur losses. Losses are only due to wrong policies of mismanagement. The minister has conveyed the pathetic situation in the government."
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