The Union government is likely to place a new legislation in the ongoing session of Parliament that will replace the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the present regulator, with a new autonomous regulatory body. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the Cabinet note on the creation of the new regulatory body — the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) — was being prepared.
The draft note has been sent to the Law and Justice Ministry for approval and after getting comments from all the Ministries it would be sent to the Cabinet for approval and thereafter tabled in Parliament during the second half of the budget session, he added.
The Minister said the need for setting up the CAA was felt as passenger and freight traffic, and aircraft movement had grown manifold during the past few years, but the strength of the DGCA had not gone up accordingly mainly due to the cumbersome recruitment process under the UPSC norms.
With full functional and financial autonomy, the proposed CAA would be able to recruit its own staff, decide on their pay structure and the powers to fix and collect fees for rendering services like safety oversight and surveillance of air navigation services. The Minister said the CAA would be self-financing and have a separate fund to finance its entire expenses.
In addition, this fund will also get budgetary support. The CAA would come up at an estimated cost of Rs. 112 crore, Mr. Singh said.
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