Patel meets employees of AI, Indian before the merger

New Delhi, Jan 17 (UNI) With high expectations of government-owned Air India (AI) and Indian to merge within 10 weeks, civil aviation minister Praful Patel today held a series of meetings with employees' representatives in an effort to quell their lingering fears.

Late in the evening, he told reporters that an independent redressal mechanism will be set up to ensure that grievances of employees (if any) are addressed expeditiously in a fair and credible manner.

The mechanism will come into being in the post-merger phase and will have representatives from the civil aviation ministry, the airlines, the department of personnel and the department of public enterprises.

''The selection and appointment of personnel for various responsibilities in the merged entity will be done through a credible and transparent process based on fair and objective criteria,'' said Mr Patel.

''The calibrated merger will involve no retrenchment, no cuts or losses in pay scale, perks or allowances. Fitment of employees into the new entity will be done in such a manner that their service conditions will further improve and they will continue to gain.'' Two days ago xxx Editors: pick up para two of DC 14 Aviation AI Indian Merger xxx UNI