Manipur has been suffering from the exploitative airfare pricing for more than 2 years. Many have been trying to explain away this looting by citing, among others, demand-supply logic, etc! And now, we have this crisis because airlines couldn’t comply with the new FDTL issued by DGCA, and the country has awoken because the “Nation” is being affected! For instance, the Ministry has responded by IMPOSING a price cap on airfare and setting up real-time price monitoring, etc.!

Despite people having been raising this unjust pricing, including on the floor of the HOUSE, why has SUCH ACTION not BEEN TAKEN UP then? The answer is the naked truth: For most people in this country, Manipur, and the Northeast in general, are not part of the RASTRA Chetna, the national consciousness. This civil aviation crisis is another stark reminder of this naked truth!

~ A. Bimol Akoijam, MP, Manipur Inner

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