Has MP Flying Club hit air pocket?
Indore: The Madhya Pradesh Flying Club (MPFC) has decided not to avail the grant of Rs 2 lakh per annum given to it by the state government from this year. MPFC Secretary Milind Mahajan confirmed the decision to DNA.
“For over 24 years, from 1958 to 1982, the club successfully maintained and operated aircraft belonging to MP state government. An annual aid of Rs 10 lakh that the club used to get was stopped in 2001. From 2007 till 2010, grant was restarted albeit on a lower slab of Rs 2 lakh per annum. The government did not keep up to its promise of increasing this sum. This despite the fact that we pay huge taxes to the government,” Milind said. Annoyed over the government move, the club, which has turnover of Rs 3.5 crore, decided to register protest by not availing the grant.
The grant issue is one of the several ones plaguing the club. Right from its inception on October 9, 1951, the MPFC has been facing issues of clearance, licence, subsidy and a fleet of unusable aircraft. The club has also been mired in controversies with the latest one being when flight operations were closed at Indore airport for non-payment of hangar charges and at Bhopal for not having a chief flying instructor (CFI).
06/06/12Â Aditya Singh Parmar/DNA/Daily Bhaskar.com