By Asia Samachar | India |
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has taken to task the Union Aviation Ministry for ignoring Punjab, especially Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, in the new agreement regarding flights between Canada and India, reports Tribune News Service.
SGPC spokesperson and general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal said under the new agreement, airports had been included for flights from many cities in India, but Punjabis, especially Sikhs, had been discriminated against by ignoring Amritsar.
In the budget session of the SGPC on March 30, 2022, led by SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, he said a a special resolution was passed to demand direct flights from Amritsar and was sent to the relevant ministries of the Government of India.
“Still the government deliberately did not give its due share of flights to Punjab. This is unfair to Punjabis. While they have to bear the loss of their valuable time to reach Punjab from Delhi, this also puts a huge financial burden on them,” he said, according to the report.
Grewal appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that due share of flights from Canada to India should be allocated from this airport.
The issue was also taken up in Canada last month when World Sikh Organization of Canada wrote to Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra on the recently expanded Canada-India Air Transport Agreement.
It noted that the agreement provides for unlimited flights between Canada and India between selected airports, but excluded Amritsar and Chandigarh in Punjab, home to the majority of the Sikh community and the destination of the majority of travellers from Canada.
“A majority of travelers between Canada and India are connected to Punjab. As a result of no direct travel options between Canada and Punjab, these travelers are forced to spend substantial extra time and money in order to reach their destinations,” said WSO president Tejinder Singh Sidhu in the letter.
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Exclusion of Punjab from expanded India-Canada flights unacceptable – WSO (Asia Samachar, 22 Nov 2022)
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