Govt must bring back airline safety regulations: AAP leader Vikramjit Singh Sahney

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Friday requested the government to soon bring back the airline safety regulations, which were relaxed for Indigo.

Raising the issue during the Zero hour, AAP leader Sahney pointed out that there is a monopoly and duopoly situation in the aviation industry, which is not good for passengers.

"We cannot compromise with safety. So, this safety regulation should be brought back, maybe in a month," he said.

Sahney pointed out that Indigo cancelled flights due to a shortage of pilots and crew members, following the implementation of the second phase of safety regulations from November 1. These regulations were related to rest period and night landing, among others.

The government withdrew this circular to address this Indigo fiasco, he added.

"Some airlines, in the name of cost-cutting and making profits, do not have sufficient crews," Sahney said.

On December 5, aviation watchdog DGCA provided a raft of exemptions to crisis-hit IndiGo to help normalise its operations.

Apart from the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) exemptions, the regulator had provided certain other relaxations that will help IndiGo have more pilots for duty to reduce the disruptions and normalise operations.

IndiGo, which has a domestic market share of over 65 per cent, cancelled hundreds of flights starting from December 2, causing hardships to thousands of passengers, and the situation is stabilising now.

Madan Rathore of the BJP raised concerns about obscene reels circulating on social media platforms and urged the government to bring strict laws to prevent this. He said such reels have a negative impact on society, especially children.

R Girirajan of DMK raised concern about rising cases of heart attack in people below the age of 40.

He urged the government to form a high-level national committee, comprising scientists from ICMR and eminent doctors from prominent hospitals, for research and analysis of health conditions of a million samples selected from across the country to find out the truth behind the rising risk of heart attacks among young people in the last four years. PTI MJH MJH BAL BAL