Reforms in the air

No one will dispute the fact that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) desperately needs a makeover. The DGCA came in for a lot of criticism after last year’s air crash in Mangalore and subsequently for its role in the fake pilots scam and reports of corruption. The government now proposes a revamp of the regulatory body, which will go beyond renaming DGCA as Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

At present the DGCA is only a safety regulatory authority, issuing licences, conducting safety audits and investigating plane crashes. But since the aviation sector is growing rapidly, the government has realised that the regulator needs more teeth. The draft bill, sources say, will now empower DGCA, or rather the CAA, to also regulate airfares, appoint ombudsmen to address consumer grievances, and hear appeals against its decisions at a separate appellate tribunal. Besides, DGCA chief E.K. Bharat Bhusan says, the new reformed regulator will be functionally and financially independent and will hire its own employees.
This all sounds very promising, but it remains to be seen how many of the suggestions actually make it into the final draft bill. But at least something seems to be moving in the right direction at last!

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IAF targets HAL
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru has always been in sarkari hands, guarded rather closely by ministry of defence (MoD) babus. But now the men in blue want a piece of the action. The Indian Air Force (IAF) wants India’s biggest aerospace company to be headed by an air marshal rather than a government babu. Being HAL’s biggest customer, the IAF believes that whoever heads the company should have an aerospace background.
The move couldn’t be better timed, say observers. HAL chairman Ashok Naik is retiring in November and the IAF bosses believe this is the right time to lobby for one of their own. Meanwhile, as the IAF top brass scramble to nominate a suitable candidate from within the ranks, the Public Enterprise Selection Board has reportedly already short-listed some candidates, including, not surprisingly, some from MoD. Apparently, the list of contenders includes the names of Pawan Hans chief R.K. Tyagi, a defence accounts service officer S.N. Mishra, who earlier was joint secretary (aerospace) in MoD, and Maharashtra State Textile Corporation chairman S.K. Tripathi. But will the IAF manage to break the stranglehold of babus? Watch this space for updates.

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