Air India to set up internal panel to address privatisation-related issues of employees: Source

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri has asked disinvestment-bound Air India to set up an internal mechanism committee comprising members from the management and its various trade unions to sort out privatisation-related issues of employees, a source said Monday. At a meeting between the minister and representatives of over a dozen Air India unions, the minister also "assured" the employees of full payment of their arrears, according to the source. Media reports suggest that the new investor may be allowed to retain Air India's some 11,000 employees only for 1 year after the carrier goes into private hands. At his first meeting with the unions Jan 2, Puri had said privatisation was inevitable and cooperation of the employees was necessary in carrying out the exercise. <br/>