Lok Sabha disrupted, Tharoor holds his Q Hour on Twitter

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 13

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Known for springing surprises, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today took to Twitter to hold his own Question Hour after Lok Sabha was washed out for the third day in a row.

He posted on Twitter questions meant to have been asked in the House and also shared publicly some interesting government replies to his written questions in the Lok Sabha.

In one such reply the Civil Aviation Ministry admits that it recently raised the notice period pilots need to give when they leave a job from six months to one year and did so without consulting the pilots.

“If you are a pilot, you need to wait for 1 year after giving a notice to shift from your place of employment. In response to my question in the LS, the Govt admits that it did not discuss this rule with any of the pilots’ associations before notifying it,” Tharoor said on Twitter tagging the Ministry’s reply.

Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha offers no explanation in the reply as to why the decision to extend the notice period was taken at all. All he says is “various stakeholders during industry consultations suggested reviewing the notice period for pilots”.

He also admits that a writ petition in the matter is pending in the Delhi High Court which Indian Pilots Guild moved challenging the legality of the related orders dated August 16, 2018. “As per the order, the notice period for Captain (Pilot-in-command) was increased from the existing six months to one year. The matter is sub judice in Delhi HC. Such unions were not included in the discussions with the Directorate,” the Minister admits.

Another question Tharoor shared on Twitter was about “an inordinate delay in the Sabari Rail project connecting Sabarimala shrine with the railway network to help thousands of Ayyappa devotees who undertake the pilgrimage.”

“Costs have risen while Kerala faces a post-flood cash crunch. Can the Centre fund and expedite this project?” Tharoor said he would have asked Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had the House functioned.

In another query on manual scavenging in Indian Railways, Tharoor offered an interesting solution from his constituency, saying: “Shamed by manual scavenging in @indianrailway. We need technology solutions for this. Young engineers in my constituency invented the “Bandicoot” robot which cleans sewers with precision, without any human contact.” Indian Railways continue to face the ignominy of being the largest open toilets in the world.