NEW DELHI: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has clarified that he did not give any assurance regarding employment of Jet Airways’ employees during Parliament proceedings in July. The minister was replying to an allegation by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh who on November 27 said in the House that Puri had “assured” Parliament “no employee of Jet Airways would lose job and would be adjusted in other companies”.
According to Singh, the minister had also said that a website having details of the employees was being launched for that purpose. Jet Airways had shut down its operations on April 17 as it had run out of funds. On December 2, Puri wrote a letter to Singh, stating, “I am writing with reference to the issue of employment of Jet Airways staff raised by you in Rajya Sabha on November 27, 2019.”
Citing his statement given on the floor of the House in July, Puri in the letter said, “At no point during the proceedings of the House in July 2019 did I give an assurance. In fact, I stated categorically that the government couldn’t assume responsibility for business failure of a private enterprise.”
“Therefore, your statement in the House on November 27, 2019, is not only devoid of fact, but is deliberately misleading,” he added. According to airline’s employee consortium, Jet Airways still has more than 5,000 employees on its rolls. Puri, in his letter to Singh on Monday, said, “I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that the NCLT process (for the airline) is ongoing.”
Jet Airways owes Rs 8,500 crore to banks and around Rs 25,000 crore in arrears to vendors, lessors and employees.
The minister said that in the meantime, the aviation ministry has launched a portal that provides an opportunity both to the employees and different airlines to be in touch with each other as job seekers and employers. “This portal or website was launched in August 2019,” he wrote in his letter. On Tuesday, the minister posted his December 2 letter to Singh on Twitter. PTI
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