Since switching sides, you’ve adopted Modi govt’s ‘uncaring attitude’ to public: Tharoor to Scindia

Also Read: Tharoor, Scindia in war of words over flight delays, airport chaos

‘Lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus’

Scindia had claimed on Wednesday that Tharoor is “lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus”, and for him “data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”.

The minister’s caustic response came after Tharoor had alleged in a series of six posts on X that the chaos at the Delhi airport is a result of the “neglect and incompetence” of the Ministry of Civil Aviation which has failed to put in place modern facilities like at other international airports of the world.

The minister had also given a point-by-point rebuttal in an equal number of posts.

Responding to those posts by Scindia, Tharoor on Thursday said, “I don’t need an ‘esoteric thesaurus’ to respond to @jm_scindia’s selective rebuttal of my thread yesterday. Some 80,000 passengers had their flights cancelled on January 14th and 15th alone, with lakhs more suffering through incessant delays.”

It would be prudent for the minister to apologise to them for the agony and distress that his government has caused, enabled, and overseen rather than engage in “nugatory name-calling”, Tharoor said.

“Mantri-ji, ahankaar chhodo, Janata se maafi maango! (Minister, put aside your arrogance and apologise to the people),” the Congress leader said.

Questions timing of maintenance

Runway maintenance work is indeed critical for safety, however, maintenance for the one other CAT-III B runway at Delhi Airport only began in September 2023, Tharoor argued.

“Why wasn’t maintenance started earlier, so it could be completed before the beginning of winter? The winter fog and ‘pollution incidents’ in Delhi are sadly an annual event that could and should have been planned for – which is exactly what your Ministry failed to do,” he said.

Responding to Scindia’s argument that the crane was being used for the construction of another critical infrastructure project – the Dwarka Expressway, Tharoor said, “Ah, your Ministry finally noticed the crane’s ‘impact on the runway’! Why did your Govt wait almost 2 weeks to take a decision on the crane that was obstructing the runway? The crane’s violation of SOPs was flagged on 5th January, but no action was taken or announced until you tweeted this decision on 17th January!”

1/6 Delhi Airport has been in chaos recently. The young professional wanting to go home for Makar Sankranti. The Army officer excited to visit his ancestral village for Lohri. The anxious son trying to get home to take care of an unwell parent. Thousands of peoples’ lives and…

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 16, 2024

Whatever ineffective show-cause notices the DCGA may be issuing, the reality is of acute pilot shortage, frequent flight diversions, and continuing agony for Indian travellers, Tharoor said.

“On December 29, 2023, 50 flights were diverted in the span of just 3 days because of a shortage of CAT-III trained pilots. That’s 86% of Delhi-bound flights! And don’t take my word for it, this was a statement by a DGCA official,” he said.

“Under the BJP government, thousands of crores have been wasted on the failed UDAN scheme. After 7 years, out of 493 subsidised routes, only 225 (about 47%) are still surviving. This is not even considering the 403 other routes that were awarded but could not even begin operations,” Tharoor said and cited a media report.

The claims about doubling the number of airports is one of your most-repeated concoctions, he said.

“In 2014, the Airports Authority of India annual report shows that there were already 125 airports in India. In 10 years, you have been able to add just 20 airports. In comparison, from 2004 to 2014, the UPA added 35 operational airports,” he argued.

‘Adopted uncaring attitude to the public’

“My dear @JM_Scindia, it’s a pity that since switching sides you have adopted the Modi Government’s uncaring attitude to the public. As @RahulGandhi said during the #BharatJodoNyayYatra, it’s clear the suffering of the people is not the suffering of this Government,” Tharoor said in another post.

Crores worth of economic value lost, lakhs of lives disrupted, and thousands of people unable to go about their daily lives during this festive season – and all the minister can do is to engage in name-calling, he said.

“I am not denying that there has been some growth. Nor am I blaming the Govt for the weather. I am pointing out that there are a number of evident shortcomings in the Govt’s planning & its failure to take pro-active action on problems that could easily have been anticipated,” he said.

“The Honourable Minister would be better served by shifting his focus from my arm-chair and my diligent researchers to the agony of the passengers. Perhaps, then he would find time to fix the myriad incompetencies, absolute lack of preparation, and the glaring loopholes in his Ministry’s functioning,” the former Union minister said.

Scindia was in the Congress for a long time and was considered a close associate of Rahul Gandhi. He quit the party following differences with its leadership and joined the BJP in 2020.

‘Runway maintenance work is critical’

“Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardizes passenger safety,” Scindia had said on X.

“As a result, the maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by 15th December before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi, the recarpeting got delayed, resulting in a delay of one month in its commissioning. The revamped RWY is getting operational this week,” he added.

2/6
Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardizes passenger safety.

As a result, the maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by 15th December before the onset of the…

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (मोदी का परिवार) (@JM_Scindia) January 17, 2024

“The crane was being used for the construction of another critical infrastructure project – the Dwarka Expressway. However, in view of its impact on the runway, it has now been decided that the crane operation shall be allowed only on non-fog days. Thus, RWY 11R/29L is operational as CAT III as of yesterday,” said the minister.

“On sufficiently trained pilots, your claim is incorrect and baseless, as usual! As compared to only 2416 CAT II/CAT III trained pilots in 2014, today we have 6191 CAT II/CAT III trained pilots which is a jump of 2.5 times in the last 9 years. Further, in preparation for the fog season of 2023-24, due to our efforts, the number of CAT II/CAT III trained pilots have grown by 16% in the last three months alone from 5332 to 6191.”

“Also, the DGCA mandates airlines to deploy CAT IIIB compliant aircraft only with qualified crew during the winter season. Any violations are strictly dealt with by the regulator, DGCA. For instance, show cause notices were issued to Spicejet and Air India,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)