NEW DELHI – National carrier Air India has removed a senior executive fromthe post of general manager for alleged involvement in a sexual harassmentcase, PTI has reported.
The ousted executive, who is now back into flying as a commander, wasaccused of sexual harassment by an Air India air hostess, who had alsowritten a letter to civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu in this regardsin May.
As per a airline notification issued last week, general manager for flightdispatch (headquarters) will hold the additional charge of the GM-IFS (HQ).
“General manager flight dispatch will hold the additional charge of thepost of GM(IFS), headquarters…the duty assigned to GM(IFS) will benotified in due course,” the Air India general manager (personnel) said ina notification dated August 21.
When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said that the person who till nowwas holding the charge of GM-IFS is a senior pilot and he is now back intoflying.
The removal of the senior executive coincided with the summoning of AirIndia chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola by the women andchild development (WCD) ministry to explain reasons behind the delay incompleting probe in the case recently.
The air hostess (victim) had also met WCD minister Maneka Gandhi, followingwhich her ministry had sought a report from Air India in the case by June.
She had alleged that she had been harassed for the last six years by thesenior executive, describing him as a “predator” and equal, if not worse,than Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood film maker charged with sexualmisconduct by leading actresses.
The airline had on last Friday informed the WCD ministry that there were 12cases of alleged sexual harassment before its various internal complaintscommittees.
In the letter, a copy of which was also marked to Prime Minister NarendraModi, the air hostess had asked the government to appoint a ‘neutral’investigation committee to look into the incident.
Responding to the letter, Prabhu had asked Kharola to immediately addressthe issue and appoint another committee, if necessary.
“This senior executive is a predator and has sexually propositioned me,abused me, used abusive languages on other women in my presence, spoken ofsexual acts with me and other women in my presence in office premises.
“He has insulted me and denied me positions and privileges after I rejectedhis advances and he had made my life a misery at work and continues to doso,” she said in her letter dated May 25.