The parliamentary committee on Transport, Aviation and Tourism has accepted MP Derek O’ Brien’s suggestion to take cognisance of the effects of coranavirus and has called a meeting of the concerned ministries on Wednesday.
The committee will convene a special meeting on Wednesday with the tourism and civil aviation ministries, seeking an update on the precautions taken by them in view of the infection that has led to three deaths in India so far, they said.
In a letter to committee chairperson T G Venkatesh, O’Brien said the aviation and tourism sectors will be directly affected by the spread of the coronavirus.
“I request the chairman to take suo motu cognisance of the matter and call two meetings with the secretary ministry of civil aviation and secretary ministry of tourism respectively. This would enable the committee to understand the situation and the level of preparedness. The committee may then proceed to make recommendations, if the need arises,” O’ Brien said in his letter.
Few days back, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) met Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel and sought the Centre’s intervention to revive the travel sector which has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The industry is witnessing about 70-80 percent cancellation in bookings following the coronavirus outbreak, according to the association. The association urged the minister to provide funds from the MGNREGA scheme to support the salaries of employees in the industry. The association also demanded six to nine months’ moratorium on all principal and interest payments on loans and overdrafts, besides deferment of GST and advance tax payments and asked the minister for removal of fees for any upcoming licenses, permits renewal, excise exemption for liquor for the hospitality and travel industry across the country. The association also sought interest reduction or subvention on term loans and working capital loans.
The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has sought the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s help as to reduce the financial impact of the pandemic. In a letter written to to the Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola on March 11, APAO highlighted the troubles being faced by the aviation industry, which is impacting the airports industry. They have requested to levy a nominal passenger facilitation charges as part of airline fares to cover increased operating expenses on preventive measures.
