By TCN News,
Kochi: The Kerala Pravasi Forum on Friday marched to and held dharna at the offices of the Air India in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram protesting against the exploitation of expatriates by the airline. The airline had hiked its international fares about four-fold recently. The Forum asked the central government and the Expatriates Department to immediately take action on the matter.
The Air India Express, which was formed against the exploiting hike in fares by airline companies, now follows a policy just like and a bit more than other companies, said A Ibrahim Kutty, state general secretary of the Forum, while inaugurating the dharna in Thiruvananthapuram. He also condemned the stand of the Expatriate Department which keeps silent against the action of the Air India.
The action of hiking the fares more than three-fold without any reason is a challenge towards the common people of the country, opined Abdussalam Parakkadan, state treasurer of the Forum, while inaugurating the dharna in Ernakulam. The Forum will go forward with strong agitation if the airline authorities did not withdraw the hikes, he warned.
The fares were hiked nearly four-fold by the airline at a time when the expatriates who are on leave are ready to go back to the Gulf countries. The fare from Karippur to Jeddah was increased from Rs 9500 to Rs 34000 for the next month. And at present the fare is about Rs 22000. Airline companies had already increased the fares from Kerala to the Gulf in the beginning of this month itself. And the hike of the Air India fares has come as a great blow to the expatriates, a large part of who are not very well off and make a living on low-salary jobs.