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Kerala CM gets pat for withdrawing user fee
DUBAI - Y.A Rahim, the newly-elected President of the Indian Association Sharjah(IAS) has hailed Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony and the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Minister M.M. Hassan for withdrawing the user's fee at the Karipur airport in Calicut, describing it as the triumph of a sustained campaign that was led by the Indian Association Sharjah along with the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, Centre for Non-Resident Indian Returnees, UAE committee of the Indira Gandhi Veekshanam Forum, the Abu Dhabi Malayalee Samajam and various Kerala-based organisations.
Speaking to Khaleej Times yesterday, Mr. Rahim said that the imposition of the user's fee on Malayalee expatriates at the Karipur airport in Calicut and the Nedumbassery airport in Cochin was unconstitutional and violated Article 14 that guaranteed that all Indian citizens be treated equally. "We filed a case in the Kerala High Court and have been agitating against the imposition of an extra Rs500 (that was reduced to Rs375 last year ) as user's fee and we are happy that it has been withdrawn at least at one of the airports."
He hoped that the government would take a similar step to withdraw the fees from the Nedumbassery airport at Cochin which is privatised. "We have undertaken hectic negotiations with the Central and the State government to make this possible and we hope that this is only the beginning and that the user's fee at the Nedumbassery airport is also waived," Mr Rahim explained. Expatriates who arrive at the Nedumbassery airport will have to pay Rs375 for using the airport while the same does not apply for local passengers.
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