Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has clarified one of his earlier posts on the growth of Airways compared to railways and requested activist Prashant Bhushan to not resort to false distortion.
My original statement was this. Please don’t resort to false distortions. https://t.co/JXcuQHVIjC https://t.co/tMRQpGBBTy
— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) December 24, 2021
He said, “My original statement was this. Please don’t resort to false distortions.”
Notably, Minister Scindia had earlier given a statement about the number of people travelling in railways compared to Airways and how the compounded annual growth had been greater in Airways than Railways in the last five years. He had said, “Presently, 18.5 crore people travel in Railways second class and upwards and 14.5 crore people use airways to travel but the difference is in compounded annual growth rate which is limited to 5.6 % in railways and 10.5 % in airways in the last five years. I can guarantee that within 6-8 years, people will take part in Air travel more than railways first and second class”
Corrigendum: “Presently, 18.5 crore people travel in railways second class and upwards and 14.5 crore people use airways.” Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (@JM_Scindia) on #IndiaNewsManch 2021 @OfficialJioTV @ZEE5News @DH_Hindi @mzaalo @LetsWatcho @ShemarooMe
— NewsX (@NewsX) December 24, 2021
(n/1) pic.twitter.com/3vT8yxwR93
Seemingly, the above statement of Mr.Scindia had been used by news media to convey that the Civil Aviation Minister meant that Indians will stop travelling in Railways in future or that the Narendra Modi led government wanted to destroy the Railways.
Activist Prashant Bhushan had said, “Wow! The mentality of a Raja & his govt. Thinks that malnourished people living on <30 Rs a day will all travel by planes. His ‘Fakeer’ PM who changes 4 designer dresses a day&travels in an 8000 Cr plane & building a 8000 Cr house for himself on our money wants to destroy Railway”
In the tweet, that Mr. Bhushan posted on social media platform carried the quote “Within 6-8 years , India will stop travelling in railways.” which according to Minister Scindia was wrong interpretation of his statement.
Earlier, Jyotiraditya Scindia had slammed CPIM MP S Venkatesan for attempting to promote the north-south divide in Indian airports. The Tamil Nadu MP from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had then claimed that Civil Aviation Minister Scindia said that the demand for Madurai airport in Tamil Nadu was not justifiable as north Indian states had one international airport. Scindia refuted the claims of the CPIM MP S Venkatesan and pointed out how some north and south Indian states like Uttar Pradesh and Kerala already had more than one international airport. Furthermore Scindia mentioned that the decision to give international status to airport depended on multiple factors such as passenger demand and proximity to other airports.
