Dear IndiGo, Start Respecting Local Languages: KTR

It looks like even multi-billion dollar companies in India are yet to discard racial and regional discrimination. One such incident that took place on Indigo 6E 7297 flight on the 16th of September has turned out to be a blot on India’s leading air carrier.

According to a viral tweet posted by IIM Ahmedabad Assistant Professor Devasmita Chakraverty, an AP woman who was traveling from Vijayawada to Hyderabad on an IndiGo 6E 7297 flight was forced to change her seat. The reason: she couldn’t speak English or Hindi, but could only speak Telugu. She was originally given 2A (XL seat, exit row), but the cabin crew had changed her to 3C and told her that it’s a “security issue”.

Needless to say, the incident and the way IndiGo attendant had handled it didn’t go well with many netizens across the country. Several celebrities from the Telugu states also voiced against IndiGo’s discrimination. Even Telangana minister KTR took to Twitter on Sunday and extended his support to the AP woman.

“Dear @IndiGo6E Management, I request you to start respecting local languages & passengers who may not be well conversant in English or Hindi,” the minister tweeted. He went on to advise IndiGo management to recruit more staff who can speak the local language like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada in regional routes and rightly called it a win-win solution.