Pravasi Sangham to go on fast against Mangalore air crash compensation row

February 11, 2012

Mangalore, February 11: Members of Pravasi Sangham, an organisation for overseas affairs and returnees based in Kerala, have decided to hold a day-long hunger strike against the discrepancies in disbursing compensation to kin of Mangalore air crash victims.

The protest will be held on February 15 from 10 am to 4 pm in front of Air India Office in the city, announced P K Abdullah, Vice President of the organization at a press meet here on Saturday.

The hunger strike will be given a start by E P Jayarajan, MLA (CPI (M) central committee member). K V Abdul Khader, MLA, general secretary, Kerala Pravasi Sangham Central Committee, K Kunhiraman, MLA, among others will take part. As many as 200 volunteers go on fast, he said.

Recalling the worst ever aviation disaster of the Mangalore, he said that one and a half year old plane crash that resulted in death of 158 innocent passengers, led thousand of their dependents as helpless denizens and the relief of benefit that the dependents had to get lawfully from the insurance authorities of Air India has not yet assessed properly as per the relevant provisions of Insurance Act.

“There are umpteen such examples which would prove the discrimination of authorities against the victims and their dependents in the aforesaid plane crash”, he said.

Reiterating demand for equal compensation for the kin of all the victims as per the Montreal Convention, he said in the plane crash at Lebanon 103 victims were compensated by the authorities by paying a fair amount of Rs 1, 269 crore rupees.

He said though it was already declared by the law that every heir of the plain crash victims should get a minimum of Rs 75 lakh compensation, the Central Government and Air India are bargaining with hapless dependents to reduce compensation amount and harassing them.

Mr. Abdulla also complained that Air India and Reliance Insurance Company are troubling all dependents even after so many months.

District treasurer Basheer Kallingal, Joint Secretary KV Ganesh, M. Haneef and VV Krishnan, Abdul Khader were present at the press meet.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Mangaluru Tees Off Big: Golf Excellence Academy to Open at Pilikula

News Network

February 1,2026

The coastal city of Mangaluru is gearing up for a major sporting milestone with the launch of a Golf Excellence Academy at the Pilikula Golf Club (PGC), scheduled to open on May 31. The initiative aims to position Mangaluru firmly on India’s national golfing map.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday during PGC’s first-ever floodlit Pro-Am tournament, club captain Manoj Kumar Shetty said the project is being funded by UAE-based philanthropist Michael D’Souza and is currently in the design phase. Experts from leading golf academies across the country are expected to visit Mangaluru to help shape the training programme and infrastructure.

The academy will train 20 young golfers at a time, with a long-term vision of producing national-level players from the region. Until now, PGC relied on an in-house coach, but the recent renovation of the course and the introduction of floodlights have opened new possibilities for expanding the sport.

Shetty said discussions are underway with two reputed coaching academies, whose heads are expected to visit PGC shortly. “A dormitory for trainers is already under construction. We are inviting academies to assess the facilities and suggest changes so we can build a truly world-class Golf Excellence Academy,” he said.

Professional golfer Aryan Roopa Anand noted that the floodlit course would be a game-changer for young players. “Students can now practise after school hours, even up to 8 or 9 pm, without compromising on academics,” he said.

Comments