Technical glitch in Air India Express Guwahati-Kolkata flight; delayed by over 18 hours
Guwahati, Jun 15 (PTI): Passengers on an Air India Express flight from Guwahati to Kolkata faced a harrowing ordeal after being deboarded twice due to a 'technical glitch' in the aircraft before being flown to their destination on Sunday afternoon — more than 18 hours after the scheduled departure, officials said.
The incident involved 170 passengers aboard Air India Express flight IX-1226, which was scheduled to depart from Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport at 9.20 pm on Saturday.
The flight was delayed post midnight because of a "technical glitch" and passengers remained seated inside all the while, an aggrieved traveller said in a video that has gone viral on social media.
Several such videos of the delayed flight are being circulated on social media alleging no clear information for the flight's delay.
PTI, however, independently could not confirm the authenticity of the videos.
"Around 1:30 am, we were asked to deboard and taken to the lounge. From there, we were taken to a very cheap hotel for overnight stay. It did not provide us any breakfast," he alleged.
On Sunday morning, the passengers were brought back to the airport and boarded the same aircraft around 9:30 a.m. However, they were again informed by the captain and crew that the flight was further delayed due to the same technical issue.
After some time, they were again deboarded and brought back to the airport with the local Air India Express officials stating that a separate aircraft will ferry them to Kolkata.
Finally, they left Guwahati at 3:34 pm in a separate flight. Some of the 170 passengers opted for other airlines as offered by Air India Express.
An Air India Express spokesperson told PTI that the evening flight on the Guwahati-Kolkata route developed a "technical issue".
"An alternative aircraft was arranged the next day, resulting in an extended delay. Guests were provided with service recovery options, including hotel accommodation, complimentary rescheduling, or cancellation with a full refund," he added.
Rejecting the charge of 'cheap hotel' by passengers, an official of the company in Guwahati said travellers were offered the best available hotel and the airline staff also stayed in that property.
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Karnataka Cabinet ratifies decisions on internal reservation for SCs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet has ratified its earlier decisions on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes and approved key modifications to streamline recruitment, including withdrawal and reissue of notifications and adoption of a 400-point roster system.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil on Thursday said the Cabinet reaffirmed its commitment to implementing internal reservation within the 15 per cent SC quota and expediting long-pending recruitment across departments.
"The Cabinet ratified decisions taken in earlier meetings (April 16 and April 24) and made modifications regarding reservation policies," Patil said.
He said the government will implement internal reservation within the 15 per cent quota for Scheduled Castes in specified proportions and revise recruitment notifications accordingly, with a 400-point roster to be followed.
If fewer than three roster points for SC arise in recruitment, then all 101 Scheduled Caste communities will be allowed to compete under SC general, he said.
Patil added that recruitment notifications issued without incorporating internal reservation will be withdrawn and reissued in line with the revised policy.
"If the Supreme Court approves 24 per cent reservation for SC/ST, six per cent backlog posts will be filled," he said, noting that urgent steps will be taken to fill 56,432 approved posts.
The latest decision follows the Cabinet's April 24 resolution that cleared a revised internal reservation formula within the overall 15 per cent SC quota, paving the way for long-pending government recruitment. The government had approved 5.25 per cent reservation each for the "right-hand" and "left-hand" groups, and about 4.5 per cent for other Scheduled Castes, including nomadic communities.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had then said the categorisation was worked out proportionately within the constitutional ceiling. "From tomorrow onwards, the recruitment process will begin with the issuance of notifications," he had said after the April 24 Cabinet meeting.
He also noted that the SC quota was fixed at 15 per cent and ST at three per cent in line with the 50 per cent cap laid down in the Indra Sawhney case, while pointing out that the Supreme Court had permitted internal reservation within constitutional limits.
