AI says neighbours ostracising, calling police on crew who went abroad
New Delhi, March 22
Air India stated on Sunday that vigilante resident welfare associations (RWAs) and neighbours were ostracising and calling police on its crew members, who went abroad as a part of their duty.
“It is alarming to note that in many localities, vigilante Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and neighbours have started ostracising the crew, obstructing them from performing their duty or even calling in the police, simply because the crew travelled abroad in the course of their duty,” the airline said in a press release.
These “vigilantes” had “conveniently” forgotten that many a spouse, parent, sibling, child and near and dear ones were brought home safely from coronavirus-hit countries by the Air India crew, it added. The national carrier has earned the praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers for rescuing stranded Indians from foreign countries in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday itself, it brought back 262 Indians stranded in Rome in a special flight. We would like to appeal to all concerned, particularly the law enforcement agencies, to ensure that our crew are treated with the courtesy, respect and freedom that every citizen of this country deserves, especially in light of the fact of their having undertaken flight duties to affected countries to bring back Indian citizens,” the airline said.
Meanwhile, Coronavirus scare forced the airport authorities at Bhopal to detain an Air India flight on Sunday for an hour after a woman passenger who showed flu like symptoms on disembarking, an official said.
The woman has been rushed to government Jai Prakash hospital, he said.
She along with 17 other passengers were de-planed from the flight that landed here from Delhi at Raja Bhopal Airport.
The flight was to leave for Pune after a brief stop over here and was held up for an hour, Air India officials said.
The 44 passengers who stayed on board for Pune were sanitized and checked thoroughly. All safety procedures were followed before take-off.
Earlier, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that 90 health counters are operational at Delhi airport and things are back to normal now.
“We have a backlog of just about 500 passengers, whom we should be able to clear in an hour. Passengers arriving on subsequent flights will also be screened within the same timeframe,” Puri said on Twitter.
After the Union Health Ministry announced that passengers from the UK, the US and Australia would also compulsorily undergo thermal screening, there was a turmoil at Delhi airport on Saturday as passengers waited for hours to complete immigration and screening processes.
“It has been a difficult two days, but with 90 health counters operational for secondary screening of incoming passengers at Delhi Airport, things are back to normal,” the minister added.
It has been a difficult two days, but with 90 health counters operational for secondary screening of incoming passengers at Delhi Airport, things are back to normal. @MoCA_GoI @AAI_Official @DelhiAirport @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/fudG7Vxywq
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) March 22, 2020
The Centre has announced that it will not allow any international flight to land in India Sunday onwards for a period of one week.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, passengers arriving from 12 countries — China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia — were already being screened. The UK, the US and Australia were added to this list on Friday.
The screening process is being handled by government authorities, including the CISF, the Airport Health Organization (APHO), the Delhi government and the Bureau of Immigration etc. Agencies
