When BJP MlA Deshraj Karnwal was trying to grab the attention of the House on Wednesday while invoking BR Ambedkar the Congress MlA Manoj Rawat stole the show while raising the issue of the aviation companies, especially Pinnacle, which have been operating in the State, including Kedarnath.
He informed the House that one Bajrang Joshi, who along with 18 others, had booked tickets for Kedarnath about three months ago through online booking. “When he reached here he was informed that his ticket had been cancelled on May 18, asking him to buy a fresh ticket. Although the government has appointed a junior engineer level officer as the nodal officer he seems toothless. Subsequently, Joshi had lodged FIR in a police station,” he said while insisting that the matter warranted a thorough discussion in the House, leaving behind all the scheduled matters.
He asked the State Government to inform the House about the financial gains they are getting out of the aviation service. He asked the Government to explain the riddle of the company having accepted bookings close to three months before it was given the license to fly. “It seems that a syndicate has been working and it is the syndicate which encouraged the company to accept advanced online booking before it was provided with the license,” he said.
As per the new norms, the cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat who has been assigned the task of answering questions on behalf of the CM regarding the few departments including aviation, that are under the CM’s charge, admitted that the state government does not have any control over the private chopper service providers. “However, not a single written complaint has come to his notice so far and if anything comes I would conduct an inquiry into it,” he said.
Undaunted, MlA Manoj Rawat sharply reacted to it, saying that the Minister could hardly shirk his responsibility with the Rudraprayag DM having acknowledged the FIR being lodged. “The Minister is accountable to the interests of the pilgrims and the locals,” he said.