Scam-hit DGCA on clean-up drive

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is planning a cleansing drive by moving out employees who ave not been transferred for quite a while. Tushar Srivastava reports.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is planning a cleansing drive by moving out employees who ave not been transferred for quite a while.

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The aviation industry regulator is in the thick of an embarrassing scandal, involving pilots who faked mark-sheets to get jobs with various domestic airlines. DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan told HT that the reshuffle, the biggest ever in the regulator's history, is “part of the overall cleansing of the organisation. It's going to happen in the next couple of weeks”.

Bhushan, who is cracking the whip to professionalise the DGCA, said only those whose “presence is absolutely necessary would be retained in Delhi”. Industry experts say a purge was welcome.

“The move will help remove the cobwebs that have grown in the DGCA,” said Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a Chennai-based aviation expert and a member of the government-appointed committee on air safety.

He said the practice of issuing fake licences would not have become so widespread without the help of insiders. “It cannot be done without the blessings of someone in a high position.”