Expressing concern over the on-going strike of Air India pilots, Opposition today demanded "bold initiatives" from the government to end the impasse and demanded a response from Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, M P Achuthan (CPI) said while people from his home state Kerala are stranded in the Gulf countries due to cancellation of flights, government has not taken the matter very seriously till now.
"Government of India has to take some bold initiatives to help the passengers in the Gulf countries," he said demanding steps for their return journey to Kerala.
He alleged that "no
tangible" effort to break the impasse over pilots's strike was in view.
The CPI member said many youths have lost their jobs as they could not go back in time to the countries where they were employed.
Members from CPI-M and BJP also supported the contention after which P J Kurien, who was in the Chair, said it was a "serious matter".
BJP member and former Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said it was unfortunate that the government was not coming forward to debate the working of the Civil Aviation Ministry. His colleague Ravishankar Prasad also rued that there is no response from the government.
CPI-M member Tapan Sen too drew attention of the government to the plight of passengers.
