Cabinet fails to clear the revised Civil Aviation Authority Bill

NEW DELHI: The possibility of getting a new aviation regulator in place during the term of the current government receded on Friday when the Cabinet failed to clear the revised Civil Aviation Authority Bill, putting paid to hopes of the sector reeling under the US Federal Aviation Administrator’s downgrade of India’s air safety rankings. “The bill will need to come up to the Cabinet again,” a senior civil aviation ministry official said, requesting anonymity. “All we can do from our end is create the draft of the bill. After that, it is up to the Cabinet and the MPs in Parliament.”

The ministry has been pushing to create the Civil Aviation Authority of India, which will have greater autonomy and subsume the existing Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Creation of the authority will also fulfil one of the promises that India has made to the US FAA. According to the official, the revised bill incorporates changes recommended by the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, which had rejected the draft bill tabled in Parliament in August 2013. ET had earlier reported that the ministry had agreed to make the post of chairman of CAA a part-time position and also agreed to give the proposed regulator autonomy to create technical posts it requires without prior government approval.

The committee’s chairman, CPI (M)’s Sitaram Yechury has expressed scepticism over the bill getting cleared in the ongoing session.