Next time Ajaykumar, a computer analyst from the UAE, and his family board a flight out of Kochi (earlier Cochin) airport in Kerala, India, he may not have to pay Rs500 per head in the name of airport user's fee, thanks to efforts being orchestrated by the Sharjah-based All India Airport User's Forum (AIAUF) today.
A high-level delegation of AIAUF has left on Sunday to organise a picketing protest today at the Kochi Airport in Nedumbassery to seek the abolition of the user's fee being charged by the airport from Gulf-bound passengers.
The forum has embarked on a heated campaign demanding the withdrawal of the user's fee at Kochi, taking heart from the successful campaign it had organised against the user's fee at Calicut airport.
"It's nothing but daylight robbery," exclaimed Ajaykumar.
"It is shameful to even demand such a fee only from Indians working in the Gulf. The airport is built with the funds provided by us. Why should the government impose such a fee? They had it going in Calicut airport for some time and now it is abolished. As if the exploitation of the airport customs was not enough, that rip off is now carried out by the government itself."
Another regular user of Kochi airport, Rajshe-karan, who works as an Advertisement Executive in Dubai, said: "I can afford to pay the Rs500, but what about the hundreds of other workers who come to Kerala with their hard earned money? And while going back they are asked to pay Rs500. What a welcome!
"I have on a couple of occasions even come across people at Kochi airport who have had to borrow money from others to pay the user's fee. The sooner someone stops this looting the better. There is no justification in demanding the fees from Keralites from the Gulf for using the airport," he said.
"It's absolutely unfair," echoed Sreekanth, who works as an accountant in Dubai. "Charging a fee to use the airport when the airfare itself is phenomenally high is grossly unfair."
K.M. Basheer, General Secretary of the AIAUF, said hundreds of people, including expatriate Keralites, will take part in the picketing. He added that the forum has been receiving tremendous support from many expatriate organisations from the time it has announced the agitation at Nedumbassery.
He also called on expatriate Keralites who are currently on vacation to come to Nedumbassery airport today and contribute to the success of the agitation by their active participation in the picketing.
"Apart from the picketing, we will also file a case in the High Court of Kerala in order to strengthen the fight against the unjust fee. We have already contacted senior lawyers in Kerala for filing the case," said Basheer, adding that the case pursued vigorously by the AIAUF had led to the withdrawal of the user's fee at Calicut Airport, which continued for seven years.
He said the forum will not stop its fight until the unjustifiable fee that is being slapped on the hapless poor Gulf Keralite is withdrawn.
"We will go to any extent to see the fee scrapped as soon as possible," said Basheer.
"If the user's fee at Kochi is not withdrawn, the amount paid by the passengers should be transformed as their share in the airport, which is run by private participation," he demanded.
Thilakan Pullani, convenor of the agitation, said the AIAUF would also fight against the unjust increase in airfare in the Gulf sector and other charges such as Kargil Fund, which is still being collected from passengers.
Apart from Basheer and Pullani, the delegation that left for Kochi also included M.K. Madhavan (President, AIAUF), Ramila Sukhdev (co-ordinator) and Azeez Vengeri (executive committee member).
What the airport users' had to say"It's shameful to even demand such a fee from Indians working in the Gulf. The airport is built on the funds provided by us. Why should the government impose such a fee?" - Ajaykumar, A computer analyst from the UAE
"I have on a couple of occasions even come across people at Cochin airport who have had to borrow money from others to pay the user's fee. The sooner someone stops this the better. There is no justification in demanding the fees from Keralites from the Gulf for using the airport." - Rajshekaran, An advertisement executive in Dubai
"Charging a fee to use the airport when the airfare itself is phenomenally high is grossly unfair." - Sreekanth, An accountant working in Dubai
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