New Delhi, July 30 Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday hit back at senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram after the latter took a dig at the BJP government over airports built by the ruling dispensation.
Reacting to a tweet by the Congress leader, Scindia said: ".... fact checking is not the current Congress' strong suit. Desperation for survival and relevance have hit senior discerning leaders such as yourself (Chidambaram). Please do not perpetuate half-baked truths."
Earlier in the day, the Congress leader in a tweet said: "The claims of the government that they had built 74 airports in the last 7 years are hollow and untrue. Only 11 new airports were built since May 2014 and which are operational... The 74 airports include 9 helicopter stations and two waterdromes. The waterdromes closed down soon after the 'inauguration'. Out of the 74 airports, 15 are no longer in use because there are no flights. Each scheme of the government can be exposed as partly true and mostly false. Boast and exaggeration are the hallmark of the present government."
Scindia also took to the Twitter to respond back, saying: "The government under the visionary leadership of PM (Narendra) Modi has 'operationalised' 74 airports, some of which had been lying unutilised for decades and were national liabilities, thanks to zero initiative taken by the previous UPA (United Progressive Alliance) governments! Therefore, the list of 74 includes, both, erstwhile unutilised airports, as well as new airports."
"The Ministry of Civil Aviation has under the Greenfield Airports Policy 2008, operationalised 12 Airports in the country since 2015. Operations in Hirasar (inaugurated this week) will begin shortly. For your information, only 3 greenfield airports were built in the last 65 years. Operation of a route is completely dependent on market demand (airlines assess the feasibility of operation on a particular route and bid under the scheme). Airport infrastructure can be utilised as and when demand picks up. Also, as airlines create capacities and demand for air travel picks up, many discontinued routes are being bid for again by airlines under new rounds of the UDAN scheme," he said.
"Under the UDAN scheme, 74 Airports/Heliports/Water Aerodromes have been revived/upgraded and operationalised since the inception of the scheme. More than 1.23 crore people and 2.23 lakh flights have flown under the UDAN scheme - the possibility of which was NIL during the UPA regime. And that's a FACT that can't be washed away by sensationalist twitter posts," Scindia added.
"The government's efforts in building 74 airports/Heliports/water aerodromes demonstrate the commitment to expanding infrastructure and accessibility to remote areas, and supporting regional development. Most of these airports are the only source of direct connectivity with far-flung cities, such as Darbhanga, Jharsuguda, Jamshedpur and Rourkela etc. The UDAN scheme is also the sole reason behind the birth of many regional airlines that cater to such routes," the Civil Aviation Minister said in his tweet.
"These developments have involved incurring of unprecedented capital investment - almost Rs 75,000 crore in the last 10 years - which is directly linked to the growth of employment in the country and has a deep social impact apart from meeting the growing aspirations of all the strata of the society to undertake air travel. What earlier governments failed to achieve in 70 years has been achieved in merely 9 years," he added.
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