After heat over fake pilots, DGCA seat turns too hot to fill

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been in news for all the wrong reasons of late, after it was discovered that large-scale nepotism within the regulator’s office was leading to a number of ‘fake’ pilots taking to the skies.
No wonder the government has not received a single application from eligible candidates for the post of director general in the last two months.
The position had come up for renewal since the current incumbent, EK Bharatbhushan, lacks the mandatory 12-year aviation experience needed for the job and the government wanted an aviation professional to head DGCA, instead of an IAS officer, as has been the norm so far.
None of Bharatbhushan’s immediate juniors qualifies for the job as per the new criteria, which require 12 years of aviation, flying, aircraft, engineering or airworthiness experience. But what Bharatbhushan lacks in experience, he has more than made up with his sincerity in tackling the entire fake pilot scam.
Officials in the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed that not a single application has been received for the director general’s post and now the ministry has written to the Union Public Service Commission to relax the appointment criteria.
17/05/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2011