Airports back to normal as workers resume duty

     New Delhi: Airports across the country returned to normalcy on Sunday as thousands of airport workers resumed work a day after they ended a three-day strike following assurances by the government that there would be no job losses caused by privatisation.

    The airport employees' unions decided to call off the strike after Union Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, gave an assurance that the Government would set up a panel comprising of representatives of workers' unions, the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the state-run body which manages country's airports. The panel will examine issues related to the modernisation and the job security of workers. The minister also gave an assurance that no employee would be victimised for taking part in the strike. Passengers, who have been battling mounds of filth over the past three days and had to wait for hours for basic information relating to their flight schedules, heaved a sigh of relief. "It's quite normal, everything is clean, everything is normal now, said Imtiaz, a passenger at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. An official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) also assured that there would be no more hiccups, adding that attendance was over 80 percent on the first day itself. "Attendance is approximate 80 percent. So, everybody has resumed their job and there is no inconvenience to the passengers, everybody is now dedicated to their work. Everybody is cleaning, washing or whatever duty they had in the housekeeping, sewer and whatever department, they are all on the job," said Manjit Singh Puri, Senior Superintendent with the AAI.

    Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh himself had been forced to meet the representatives of the airport employees' unions and Left party leaders on Friday to urge them to end the strike that had raised doubts over whether the Government could push through its decision to modernise airports. Left parties had backed the protest, saying that airport modernization should be carried out by the state. "After the assurance from the Prime Minister and the Civil Aviation Minister to our union and the Left parties that no one will be kicked out and their jobs are safe, we have a good future, so the fear we had is now over." Puri said. The strike began on Wednesday after the government awarded contracts to two private consortia involving overseas companies to modernise and manage the Delhi and Mumbai airports. India, Asia's third-largest economy, is revamping the two airports in its bid to upgrade infrastructure to international standards capable of keeping pace with a booming economy. Congested waiting areas, a lack of comfortable seating, slow baggage handling and unreliable power supplies make air travel uncomfortable for a fast expanding middle-class despite the introduction of many new budget airlines.

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