Congress MP alleges overcharging by Air India on Vande Bharat flights
New Delhi: A Congress MP from Punjab on Monday alleged malpractice and overcharging by Air India on flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, and demanded action against those involved in it.
In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the MP from Amritsar constituency Gurjeet Singh Aujla sought his intervention in ensuring transparency.
"Vande Bharat Mission flights were started to save Indians stranded elsewhere in the world (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), but it is turning out to be an exercise to mint money for a cash-strapped airline. This kind of malpractice cannot happen without a nexus within the organization," Aujla alleged.
"I, therefore, request your good office to intervene in this matter and create a foolproof system to issue VBM tickets and initiate strict action against the nexus," he wrote to the minister.
He cited complaints from passengers belonging to the Majha region of Punjab who is settled or studying in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
"Almost all have been overcharged and had to travel on expensive tickets. On some occasions it has been reported that the travel agents refused to supply the passengers with the original invoice and also hesitated to process a refund of the tickets to avoid suspicion," he alleged.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
