The recent downgrading of India's aviation safety ranking, because of inadequate regulatory oversight, by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a blow to India's image: it is now ranked at par with the Philippines, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh — and below Pakistan.
Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh described the development as "disappointing". But the demand to fix accountability for this unwarranted mess was totally ignored.
What made the downgrade more unfortunate was that though enough warnings had been given, they were not heeded to and the ministry's chalta hai attitude prevailed. The downgrade has come as no surprise. The recent past is replete with instances of the ministry's procrastination in every aspect of its functioning and neglect of priorities. India is functioning without a national aviation policy. For over 20 years, the policy has been in formulation phase.
07/02/14 Jitender Bhargava/Economic Times
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Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh described the development as "disappointing". But the demand to fix accountability for this unwarranted mess was totally ignored.
What made the downgrade more unfortunate was that though enough warnings had been given, they were not heeded to and the ministry's chalta hai attitude prevailed. The downgrade has come as no surprise. The recent past is replete with instances of the ministry's procrastination in every aspect of its functioning and neglect of priorities. India is functioning without a national aviation policy. For over 20 years, the policy has been in formulation phase.
07/02/14 Jitender Bhargava/Economic Times
