MHA Doubles Days of Air Courier Services for Jawans To & From Manipur Till Normalcy Returns to State

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has doubled air courier services to Manipur up to September 30 or till normalcy returns to the state.

According to an official communication, the MHA has said: “Competent Authority to increase frequencies of the Air Courier Services on Kolkata Imphal-Kolkata route from 03 days to 06 days in a week up to 30.09.2024 or till return of normalcy in Manipur or de-induction of additional CAPFs Coys from Manipur, whichever is earlier.”

In February, News18 had reported that jawans are facing problems due to less number of days of air courier services to and from Manipur, especially after heavy deployment of CAPFs post heavy violence. Suggestions were made to increase air courier services in that particular route as jawans were facing issues. The matter was raised in a meeting with DG CRPF Anish Dayal also.

“The increase in frequency of Air Courier Service in Manipur will be regulated as per the existing Terms & Conditions of contract of Air Courier Services with the concerned Airlines/ Operators. Distribution of Seats among the Forces may be carried out based on the quantum of additional deployment of CAPFs Coys in Manipur.”

MHA has also sought proposal for obtaining expenditure sanction on account of increase of frequency of air courier services flights on the Kolkata-Imphal-Kolkata route from three days to six days.

Other routes facing issues

Air courier services for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are encountering difficulties, with jawans complaining about the unavailability of seats on crucial routes, including Delhi-J&K.

In a recent meeting chaired by DG CRPF Anish Dayal, the issue was raised alongside other concerns regarding air courier services on various routes.

According to the discussions, officials lamented the lack of seats due to limited capacity on the Srinagar-Jammu-Delhi route. Similarly, it was noted that the Delhi-Kolkata-Aizwal route only offers ACS service on Saturdays, posing constraints for jawans. Moreover, the air courier services from Dibrugarh to Guwahati and then Delhi has stopped, causing inconvenience for jawans commuting from challenging locations, prompting the matter to be escalated to the Ministry of Home Affairs for service resumption.