New Delhi: While asserting that Air India's government ownership must continue, civil aviation minister Praful Patel took a swipe at the erstwhile NDA government, which he said had failed to give the national carriers a level-playing field, and had even proposed their sale.

Justifying his earlier statements that the merged Air India must "perform or perish", Patel said that it has been 15 years since the government last signalled that the national carrier should be allowed to grow and flourish, and stay  in government hands. Patel was responding to a letter by the joint action committee of several unions, associations and guilds of Air India.

In his response, the minister writes, "You will recall the previous government's decision to sell/ privatise both the national carriers. The bidding process had almost reached a state of finality and had the bidders not withdrawn at the last moment, our present exchange would have been 'history'. Not only that, the previous governments never gave both the national carriers a level-playing field and you will recall my many statements that Air India and Indian Airlines can not compete with their hands tied."