Even after 19 years of living in an open economy our country still faces beauraucratic set ups and red tapisms. My latest experience with Pawan Hans helicopter is a testimony to why we as a country will always be decades behind developed world.
To put things to perspective, I want to highlight 3 events in the recent past.
1> A "commoner" patient is shifted out of a hospital’s ICU to a barely livable room to accomodate a "referred" patient by a high post official.
2> All, I repeat, ALL tourists of Panchmarhi in MP are ordered to stay inside their rooms and absolutely no vehicles are allowed for 2 days because Mr. Advani is visiting the place.
3> No civilian is allowed to use the "Civilian Aviation transport" or the helicopter service from Tawang to Guwahati on 3rd June in spite of applying to the Deputy Commissioner and getting the list approved by him 5 days prior to the journey. Because on the morning of 3rd suddenly 12 distant relatives of the Chief Justice, the Chief Minister and an MLA decide to use the service.
Among the other "civilians" who were affected, two ladies had to cancel their connecting Guwahati to Kolkata flight tickets. This after applying to the helicopter 5 days in advance. One man in military service(Temporary duty in Tawang) had to forego his exam and will have to reappear next year as he couldn’t reach the exam center on time.
What is the common irony behind the three incidences? All of the "VIPs" were elected by "commoners" to serve the "civilians"
The organisers of Pawan Hans had mentioned it beforehand that they wouldn’t be able to do anything in the following two cases:
1> If the weather is bad enough to cancel the flight
2> If a VIP decides to ride
My points of concern are:
1> If civilians are the least priority passengers after VIPs and Service men, then why isn’t it mentioned anywhere on Pawan Hans’ website or when we enquire for a ticket?
2> If some VIP decides to use the service, then why aren’t the people who have booked their flights informed in advance that the service will not be available for them on the particular day so that people can arrange for alternative means of transport?
3> In any public utility such as the Railways or Airlines, there is always a fixed quota for VIPs. Pawan Hans has none. Refusing us at the helipad is the equivalent of throwing a person out of a train in spite of holding a reserved berth to accomodate a VIP.
What is the use of Pawan Hans tickets being available on subsidised rates then? It is also shameful that the lonely planet guide(that most Foreigners look up before visiting India) describes the safety of Pawan Hans as "Atrocious".
A seperate mention to the flashy wesbsite of Pawan hans. The phone numbers on the "contact us" page don’t work. I tried calling Guwahati nos, Delhi nos and even Mumbai nos to simply enquire about basic information on separate occasions. Two of those numbers turned out to be fax nos(listed as phone nos) and no one picked up the remaining nos that I tried before I ran out of patience. And no, I hadn’t tried calling those nos on off office hours or on public holidays.
In the end I would like to warn the general public to not to rely on these copters unless you are a relative of a VIP. It is a big gamble. Always prefer alternatives like road.