Airports privatisaion: 'Govt wants to address HR issues first'

Government had to push the bidding date for privatisation of four AAI-run airports as it wanted to address human resources issues first before they go into the private hands, even as the whole process was on fast track, a top AAI official said today.
"There are many issues. There are issues relating to human resources. A concerted decision has to be taken (on such issues). Whatever are the concerns of the employees, they would be addressed by the Government," Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman R K Srivastava told reporters.
Srivastava said whatever are the concerns of the employees would be addressed by the Government, adding that "the service conditions of employees should not be" compromised with.

The Chairman also said that issues such as tariff fixation for these airports were also there but did not elaborate further.
The AAI was trying to fast track the privatisation process, he said, adding that, "We have to now formulate the Request for Proposal. We are ensuring all timelines are met."
The AAI, which had invited Request for Qualification (RFQ) to handover the management, operations and development of Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur and Ahmedabad Airports last year, had last week extended the due date for submitting the RFQ March 24 to May 26. It had, however, not given any reason for pushing the deadline at that time.