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Ajit Singh Forms Committee to Implement AI Staff Integration

  • Dharmadhikari Committee submitted report to Minister about a fortnight ago Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Wednesday set up a three-member panel to examine the recommendations of the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee report on Air India-Indian Airlines merger and prepare a schedule for their implementation. He asked the panel to submit its report by March first week.The Justice Dharmadhikari Committee submitted the report to the Minister about a fortnight ago, recommending various measures to integrate the 29,000-strong staff of Air India, post-merger, with Indian Airlines. It had gone into all aspects of integrating the employees of the erstwhile state-owned airlines .
  • Besides working out the principles of integration across various cadres and determining the levels and seniority, it had gone into several aspects, including pay-scale rationalisation, restructuring and career progression.The three-member panel formed by the Minister would comprise Joint Secretaries in the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Department of Public Enterprises Prashant Shukul and A K Sinha respectively, and IFFCO Director (HR) R.P. Singh.The recommendations of the Dharmadhikari Committee report would come into force after Mr. Singh's panel submitted its report, an official spokesperson said.
  • A Group of Ministers on Civil Aviation, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, earlier this month suggested that the Dharmadhikari Committee recommendations should be examined by the first week of next month.The three-member panel would also examine the functional viability of the cash-strapped Air India, the financial implications and other practical aspects of implementing all the recommendations, the spokesperson said.
  • It would also give an implementation schedule indicating the priority of implementation among the various recommendations, the spokesperson said. As on December 31 last, the total staff strength of the carrier, which was merged in March 2007, stood at 28,500.Almost five years after the merger, the Dharmadhikari panel submitted its report on the integration of the the employees of the unified national carrier, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers.

AGITATIONS

  • Air India, which has 14 unions representing all sections of employees, has witnessed three strikes since the merger, including two by its pilots. The contentious issues that gave rise to these agitations included pay parity and career progression between the staffers of the two erstwhile carriers.

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