New Delhi: A Parliamentary Panel, while considering NITI Aayog's pitch to privatise Air India, said the government think-tank was acting like a spokesperson for the private sector.
The panel also termed NITI Aayog's arguments as "childish" and "without basis".
The remarks, which were a part of the 'Revised Draft Report on Proposed Disinvestment of Air India', said that the think-tank was “acting like the spokesperson of the private sector and recommended privatisation of Air India without providing any basis or rationale”.
The panel’s remark further said that NITI Aayog “simply thought the government should not be in the airline business as there are many private airlines around. It is probably a childish argument. If we extend the theory to many other sectors of the government’s functioning, we may have to close down many institutions of national importance".
In one of the sections in the draft, titled '11 Reasons Why the National Carrier Should Not be Disinvested', the panel also asked whether there were any documents or studies on which NITI Aayog based its argument.
As part of the rationale provided by NITI Aayog, which includes the fragile finances of the airline, it has said that Air India with 14% market share is not a strategic or priority business for the government.
The Union Cabinet had approved disinvestment of Air India in June 2017. A group of ministers led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is working on the details of the process.
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