Left's legacy: AAI staff takes on the police outside Rajiv Bhavan

Day 0, January 31, 2006, Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, New Delhi

The day the financial bids are to be opened, a crowd of 500-600 employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) gathers outside the HQ of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Also present are leaders of the CPI(M). One of them, Sitaram Yechury says the United Progressive Government could fall "if it goes ahead with its plan to hand over airports into private hands", a threat based on the fact that the communists support the government without being part of it-judging from Yechury's statement, a position that gives them lots of power but no responsibilities.

The bids are opened at 3.30 p.m., an empowered group of ministers (EGOM) vets the awarding process, and the Minister for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, announces the results at a 7.00 p.m. press conference.

There seems to be no issue with the selection of the GMR-Fraport consortium for the Delhi airport project. It is the only technically qualified bidder, according to the findings of a committee headed by Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan, an incorruptible technocrat. The selection of the GVK-South African Airports consortium for the Mumbai airport project is dodgy. Since GMR cannot be awarded both airport projects, there are no technically qualified bidders. "Setting aside GMR's bid, the government considered the financial offers of Reliance-ASA (Mexico), GVK-South African Airports and D.S. Construction-Flughafen Munchen GMBH (Munich), and since the offer from GVK was the highest, the EGOM approved its selection," says Patel at the conference. That explanation is far from convincing. Especially since Amarchand Mangaldas, ABN-AMRO and Airplan, the global advisors to the project, had identified two players, the GMR-Fraport consortium and Reliance-ASA (Mexico), as valid technical bidders.

The minister's explanation of what is to happen to the workers, however, is lucid: For three years, all of them will work in the two airports; after that, the two companies will absorb at least 60 per cent of the employees, maybe more (the government wanted to set a ceiling of 40 per cent); some 7 per cent is set to retire in the next three years, so the balance will be retained by the government. As is his argument as to why the modernisation projects weren't handed over to the AAI itself. "Should we spend all AAI's money in developing the Mumbai and Delhi airports or use it to develop other non-metro airports where private participation will be low?" he asks. The fact that the GMR-Fraport consortium will pay 45.99 per cent of the revenues it generates to the AAI (it had originally bid 43.64, but agreed to match the highest bidder's rate) and the GVK-South African Airports 38.70 per cent, means that the organisation will end up with money, lots of it, to fund its non-metro airport upgradation initiative.

Later in the evening, the AAI unions signal their intent to launch an agitation. ADAE, the promoter of Reliance-ASA (Mexico) and the Sterlite Group, make noises about the unfairness of it all and both the companies say they will consider legal recourse.

Day 1, February 1, 2006

Rabble-rousers: Workers protesting at the Mumbai airport

Things start slowly. In Delhi, leaders of the AAI Employees Union (including General Secretary M. K. Ghoshal) and leaders of the communist parties (including Brinda Karat and Dipankar Mukherjee) gather in strength outside Terminal 1B of the domestic airport. Karat calls the decision "a shameless surrender" by the government to private interests. Mukherjee lashes out at the media, saying it is anti-worker and anti-communist. And Ghoshal, rather irresponsibly, says that the blame for anything that happens because the AAI employees aren't at work (such as a fire or any other emergency) "would lie with the government only".

The flights seem to be on schedule, except for problems caused by congestion; then, that's something everyone has got used to ever since the airline boom. It's a similar tale in Mumbai where, apart from the communists, some local politicos, such as Vinod Tawde, a corporator belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party, are trying to whip up anti-government sentiments. Strangely enough, the BJP behaves like a responsible opposition party at the Centre and refuses to take sides. Laxmi, a cleaner, is in the thick of things, first shouting "Inquilab zindabad (Long live revolution)", then "Videshi, bahar chalo (Foreigner, get out)", and tells a BT correspondent that "Praful Patel wants to remove all of us from our jobs". Some employees try to prevent passengers from entering the terminal and the police have to resort to a lathi-charge to prevent them from doing so. "This government thinks privatisation is the key to everything," says Nitin Jadhav, a leader of the Airports Authority Employees' Union. Kolkata would seem to be the worst affected. Of the 80 flights that operate from the city, 37 have been cancelled and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, desperately trying to woo investors to West Bengal, cuts a sorry figure at a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

By 2.00 p.m., the protestors in Delhi have realised that they have to do more to attract attention. They block access to the terminal, start hurling abuses at Praful Patel, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They burn effigies of the three and block exits from the arrival lounge.

Day 2, February 2, 2006

The Delhi and Mumbai airports begin to stink (literally) as the protest continues. The communists and the unions clearly care little for passengers and for the country's image. The Kolkata airport, however, the worst affected yesterday, is back to normal, with some employees even 'unofficially' reporting for work. "I don't know who they are, but they helped us come out, helped us with our luggage," says a visibly relieved Sunil Ganguly, a renowned Bengali writer who has just landed from Dhaka.

The Delhi High Court passes an order saying workers cannot protest within 500 metres of the airports, and documents relating to the evaluation start floating around. The initial scores for the six bidders for Mumbai airport are as follows:

Meanwhile, ADAE files a petition challenging the bidding process in the Delhi High Court. It says that the methodology used to select the winning bidders was against the conditions laid out in the initial tender. The Sterlite-lead Macquarie consortium also threatens to file a petition. And the Prime Minister agrees to meet with representatives of the AAI unions.

Day 3, February 3, 2006

Airports in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata continue to function despite being snowed under with garbage and sewage. The Delhi High Court defers the Reliance petition till February 6. One BT correspondent finally manages to reach G.V. Sanjay Reddy of the GVK Group who says that the group "is unable to answer any questions". The Prime Minister meets with the leaders of the AAI unions and leaders of the CPI(M), and there is talk of the strike being lifted.

Day 4, February 4, 2006

The strike continues till late evening. The prime Minister's assurance that no jobs will be lost doesn't mean anything, the unions tell a BT correspondent. The real issue, they tell him, is that "this isn't modernisation of airports, but privatisation". Then there is talk of the Common Minimum Programme which says no profit-making, government-owned company or entity can be privatised. Still, they relent and call off the strike late in the evening. Thus far, the world has seen: a messy bid awarding process, a protest founded more over fears of having to work and being held accountable for work, impending legal battles, and filthy airports. Week 2 promises more action. Tune in.

By Ashish Gupta and Shaleen Agrawal in Delhi, Kushan Mitra in Mumbai, and Ritwik Mukherjee in Kolkata