00:00It's going to be a year since that fateful Air India 171 crash that led to the loss of life
00:06of 241 people.
00:08Among them was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
00:12His daughter had raised concerns with the Air India about knowing the truth more than compensation.
00:18So to that, the Air India has put out a statement.
00:21I read it briefly and I go across to my colleague Amit Bhardwaj.
00:24Air India statement says,
00:26No deadline or pressure on any family or individual to accept our offer within a set time frame.
00:33We started our final compensation process in October and families are entirely free to wait until the investigation report has
00:41been released.
00:42Amit, tell us more about what did the daughter of Vijay Rupani say and why this statement from the Air
00:48India.
00:54Pooja, to begin with, I have accessed the response of Air India that has been sent to Vijay Rupani's daughter
01:02Radhika Mishra.
01:04And what does it speak?
01:05It is saying Air India has said that there is no pressure whatsoever on the families of the victims of
01:12the AI 171 crash.
01:14They have said that those who want to take the compensation full and final settlement, they can take it because
01:21the investigation is in continuation right now and they do not have control over the final report that is being
01:29prepared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
01:33Now, there is one clause in the RDI that has raised a lot of concerns in the families of victims,
01:40including Mr. Rupani's family and his daughter Radhika Mishra.
01:47Now, what is Air India's response is in that context?
01:51Air India is saying that as far as the receipt, discharge and indemnity document clauses are concerned,
01:58the wording used in the RDI mirrors the usual approach commonly taken by the airlines,
02:06be it the international airlines or the Indian airlines in such cases, that is in cases of crash.
02:13Beyond that, Air India is also saying that it has no interest whatsoever in protecting third party,
02:20such as the original equipment manufacturers,
02:23as well as they are saying that they want to give out full and final settlement to the families who
02:30want it or who are in need of financial support,
02:33but those who want to wait for the investigations to complete, they can choose to do so.
02:39So, there have been the RDI wordings that was a major concern and obviously the families are looking out for
02:44closure.
02:44So, there's no denial of that.
02:46Well, absolutely, what a terrible tragedy that had taken place and leaving families not only without closure,
02:51without a final goodbye, but in some of the cases, remember, entire family got wiped off.
02:56So, the ones who are the survivors or the kid of the deceased are basically just waiting for more details
03:02and only requires more empathy and sensitivity to deal with the family members.
03:07Because Air India has put out that statement that there is no pressure and the family members are all free
03:14to wait till the report is released.
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