Hard-pressed, DGCA has to have future carved out

New Delhi: India is grafting its presence on the world aviation map. The sector is flying high with a scorching growth of nearly 50%, the highest in the world. No-frills carriers are becoming the contemporary revolutionaries, who have made air travel affordable and also forced their full-frills competitors to reduce fares. Existing airports are being modernised and new ones constructed. Air passengers are kings and every thing seems hunky-dory.
Yet, this dynamism and visible growth of the sector has overshadowed one crucial aspect — the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulatory body for aviation sector, not keeping pace with the industry. DGCA is a statutory body responsible for laying down standards and their implementation for areas such as airworthiness, safety and operations of aircraft, flight crew standards and training and air transport operations. It also, inter alia, helps the government in formulation of aviation-related laws.
The research & development wing of DGCA bring out data and studies on various important aspects of the aviation sector. In a nutshell, it’s fairly comprehensive organisation with diverse functions and responsibilities. It covers almost all the regulatory issues concerning the sector except security, which is a subject matter of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.
29/01/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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