Bhubaneswar: Air India (AI) as well as its chief Ashwani Lohani Saturday apologised for an error published in an article on Puri Jagannath temple which was published in its in-flight magazine, saying the carrier did not intend to ‘‘hurt sentiments”.
Shubh Yatra, the in-flight magazine in its October edition published an article by Madhulika Dash titled ‘‘Devotion can be delicious’’ carried a factual error that non-vegetarian dishes are also served at the Jagannath temple.
The article which created a storm in the social media also caught the attention of the state government.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said he has decided to address the issue with the Centre. “The government has taken the issue seriously and has decided to approach appropriate authorities on the issue,” Patnaik said.
Air India general manager (revenue and pricing) Meenakshi Mallik, who arrived in the Capital, Saturday to convey the message of the AI chief also offered an unconditional apology on the issue.
‘‘AI deeply regrets this error and apologises for inadvertently hurting the sentiments of the people. Henceforth, AI will not publish any article by this author. The author has also provided a written apology for the same,” Mallik said.
AI officials confirmed that the national carrier has also issued instructions to all its offices to withdraw the October edition of the in-flight magazine. AI has also removed the article from its website,
Interestingly, author Madhulika Dash has repeated the same factual error in her article ‘How temple cuisine helped enrich Indian food culture’ published in webmagazine Swarajya, January 17, 2016. PNN