New panel to study Justice Dharmadhikari Committee report on AI-IA merger

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh has formed a three-member committee to examine the recommendations of the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee on various labour issues after the merger of the two national carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines.

''The committee will look into various recommendations in the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee report and give its comments in terms of implementability, keeping in mind the employee's interests, the functional viability of the company, the financial implications and also various other practical aspects of implementation,'' an official release said today.

The committee will also give an implementation schedule indicating the priority of implementation of various recommendations.

The committee has been given time till the first week of March 2012 to prepare the schedule of implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee.

The government set up the committee headed by Justice Dharmadhikari, former judge of the Supreme Court, on 11 May 2011, to examine the principles of integration across various cadres and determination of level and seniority of employees in the two organisations.

The committee submitted its report to the minister of civil aviation on 31 January 2012.

The committee's terms of reference included:

• Examining the principles of pay/wage rationalisation and restructuring between all the employees of erstwhile airlines.
  
  
• Suggesting harmonised working of various categories of employees of erstwhile airlines depending upon the requirements.
  
  
• Examining the principles governing the structures of the pensionery schemes, death-cum-retirement gratuities and other terminal benefits having financial implication under the cost-neutral principle.
  
  
• Making recommendations with respect to the general principles and parameters of the different productivity linked incentive schemes and bringing them in line with airline practices.

The recommendations of the committee report will come into force after the three-member committee formed by the civil aviation ministry submits its report in the first week of March 2012.