Former Kingfisher employees ask Narendra Modi to intervene in Vijay Mallya row

QUICK PILL

• Former Kingfisher employees reiterated their plea for government intervention in a letter addressed to PM Narendra Modi

• \"On behalf of all the employees of erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines we request you for your immediate intervention in the matter helping us recover our hard earned dues,\" the letter stated.

Amid the controversy surrounding Vijay Mallya's exit to United Kingdom, employees of his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention in safeguarding the interest of the employees.

Highlighting that they have not been paid their dues - including salaries and statutory dues like the Provident Fund and Gratuity - the employees have also said they were being hounded by Income Tax notices despite the tax default being the Airlines' fault. The letter reads:

"Our present laws which were supposed to protect the employee's interest have become redundant and are failing to solve the purpose that they were meant to serve."

"The best example would be that some of our colleagues who could afford legal fees went to courts and were awarded decrees in their favour even after which it did not translate into actual dues, thereby making a mockery of our justice system. Others are still fighting for their dues in the winding up petitions in the Honourable Karnataka High Court."

The former employees said there were about 7000 employees who were affected by the closure of the airlines. The former workers also admitted that most of them could not afford to fight it out in the courts and that their appeals were rejected by councils of various parties, including the banks.

The employees also said the legal system had failed them. "On behalf of all the employees of erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines we request you for your immediate intervention in the matter helping us recover our hard earned dues," the letter reads.

The employees have requested that the government intervene and pay their dues, calling to mind previous instances where the government has reached out to unpaid workers of sugar cane mills or cotton industries. The letter reads:

"Sir the govt has enough avenues to recover the dues and can afford the unfortunate delay that it would take now. But the employees cannot bear any further delays. The whole world seems to have forgotten about us and misplaced its priorities in larger scheme of thoughts when it comes to banks and others."

- With ANI inputs