Day 34 – Q 1. What benefits would accrue from enhanced regional air connectivity? Discuss.
1. What benefits would accrue from enhanced regional air connectivity? Discuss.
बेहतर क्षेत्रीय वायु कनेक्टिविटी से क्या लाभ मिलेगा? चर्चा करें।
Introduction:
Connectivity is the corner stone of development. The government of India has launched schemes like UDAN to improve regional connectivity.
Body
Benefits from regional air connectivity:
- Development of small cities: It could lead to development of smaller cities as faster air connectivity will attract infrastructure & investment.
- Reduce the pressure from railways and roads
- Significant Social Benefits: Provides people with access to decent livelihoods, food, health care, education. Ex: Air transport is only means to travel to many remote places in North East.
- Economic benefits: It contributes 0.5% of Indian GDP supporting 1.7 million jobs directly and indirectly.
- Achieve sustainable development goal: Use of advanced fuel system would reduce pollution.
- Facilitate the delivery of emergency and humanitarian aid at time of disaster at inaccessible areas.
Challenges:
- Smaller players like Air Odisha and Air Deccan have struggled to raise sufficient capital for their operations, hire trained manpower and lease planes.
- Some airports owned by State governments and private players have been hesitant in participating as there is little for them to gain with RCS flights exempt from paying landing and parking charges and States required to provide land, security and fire services free of cost.
- Subsidy based regime are impacted by the vagaries of price changes in oil prices
Conclusion
Regional air connectivity has huge scope of developing tier1 and tier2 cities which can reduce the burden of big metropolitan cities. Thus scheme like UDAN need to be pursued relentlessly by engaging all the stakeholders
Best Answer: Dazy Rani
