NEW DELHI: A Bengaluru-based trainee pilot of low-cost carrier Indigo has on Sunday (June 22) filed a complaint against three of his senior colleagues alleging caste-based discrimination and harassment at the workplace. Police have filed cases against the trio under the SC /ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. Indigo on Monday refuted the claims made in the FIR and billed them as “baseless.”
A Zero FIR was filed by trainee Ashok Kumar (35) in Bengaluru’s Sampigehalli station a month ago (May 21). The FIR was transferred to the DLF Phase-I police station at Gurugram as the incident happened at the airline’s headquarters there
Indigo employees Tapas Dey, Manish Sahani and Captain Rahul Patil are alleged to be involved in the stated incident, which happened on April 28.
According to the complaint, Kumar states that he belongs to the Adi Dravida community which falls under the Scheduled Caste category. The trio had called him for a meeting at the Indigo office at Emaar Capital Tower, Sector 24 in Gurugram. “Before the meeting, Tapas Dey instructed me in a humiliating and derogatory manner to leave my bag and phone outside. During the meet, all three individuals subjected me to caste-based verbal abuse, discrimination and threats intended to humiliate and degrade me because of my caste,” he alleged.
The FIR listed these abusive remarks as made by them – “Abey Chutiya Chamar, you are not fit to fly an aircraft, go back and stitch slippers (referring to my ancestral caste job); “You are not even worthy to lick my shoe.” When Kumar had asked for an explanation for some issue, he allegedly got this lashing, “You don’t have the aukaat to be a watchman in this building and you are asking for an explanation?”
He further alleged, “These statements were made with clear reference to my case, with the intention to humiliate me and to undermine my dignity and status as a Scheduled Case person.”
Kumar alleged that in addition to the verbal abuse, the airline also had allegedly targetedim continuously and discriminated against him. Specifying these charges, he said that he was forced to undergo corrective training without any failure on his part. “Unauthorised salary cuts despite being available for work, sick leave deductions without any valid reason, staff travel and privileges revoked and issuance of a warning letter without proof to pressure and force my resignation.”
Despite reporting to the CEO and the Ethics Committee of Indigo airlines, no action has been taken by them, he added. The trainee pilot stated that he gave his seniors a week to apologise and then approached the approached a lawyer and the SC/ST for help.
Asked for its response, a spokesperson of Indigo said in a statement, “IndiGo upholds a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination, harassment, or bias and remains firmly committed to being an inclusive and respectful workplace. IndiGo strongly refutes these baseless claims and stands by its values of fairness, integrity, and accountability and will extend its support to the law enforcement agencies as required.”