THE DGCA MUDDLE
There was no forward movement in the process of investigation into the scams, as the MOCA had been sitting on the Chief Vigilance Officer’s report. It is now understood that the report has finally been referred to the Central Vigilance Commission.
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF
last year, the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The fact that corruption had eroded the vitals of this organisation was not a closely-guarded secret and albeit never formally acknowledged by the officialdom, was known to all and sundry. Those who bore the brunt of corruption in this organisation were the majority of starry-eyed, hapless and innocent boys and girls who aspired to reach the sky but had no relatives in the organisation. Those who exploited the malaise for personal gain were children and relatives of the officials of the organisation, the officials themselves and the middlemen, also referred to as ‘touts’. These unscrupulous individuals in direct connivance with the officials in the DGCA ruled the roost. It was not mandatory for candidates related to officials in the DGCA to meet the eligibility criteria for grant of flying license and even the rule about prior clearance by the government for their employment, was blatantly flouted.
The misdeeds of the officials of DGCA having reached a point where these could no longer be concealed or contained descended as a cloud burst upon the public domain, early in 2011. A large number of cases of individuals obtaining commercial pilot licence (CPL) and even airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) on the basis of forged documents related to passing of examinations, were detected to have been effected through active collaboration between middlemen and the officials of the DGCA, both amongst the senior functionaries and lower echelons of supervisory and clerical staff. Chief Flying Instructors at some flying training institutions were found to have overlogged flying hours or issued flying certificates without even flying a single hour. A flying licence was available for a price, believed to be in the region of 7,00,000 for a CPL and proportionately higher sum for an ATPL and possibly even home delivered. Some of these pilots were and possibly still are flying as Commanders in the different carriers in the country, both in the public and private sectors, with serious implications for air safety. A number of pilots, officials of the DGCA, including senior functionaries and few middlemen were arrested and charged by the State Anti Corruption Bureau and the Delhi Police.
Safety audits ordered for the 40 flying schools across the country found that irregularities were committed by the officials of DGCA and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Undue favours were done to the 28 flying training institutions resulting in a loss to the state exchequer to the tune of 190 crore. The officials against whom there was incriminating evidence were suspended and charged with criminal conspiracy for causing wrongful pecuniary loss to the government.
The DGCA was also castigated by Sitaram Yechury, CPI (M) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, for compromising on air safety as the organisation was functioning with ‘ highly depleted manpower’. Against the 525 sanctioned posts with the DGCA, only 144 were manned, the rest had been lying vacant for years. In respect of air safety officers, against the sanctioned strength of 43, none had been recruited. And only one vacancy was filled for airworthiness officers. The committee also observed that “the supervisory and vigilance system been in the DGCA was very weak”.
In the past, attempts by some enlightened individuals holding charge of the organisation as the Director General, at cleansing the organisation and at restoring value systems, were largely ineffective. These individuals being inconvenient to the well-entrenched system were either discreetly eased out or even removed unceremoniously by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) as has been the case with the most recent incumbent E.K. Bharat Bhushan. But his is not an isolated case. In May this year, Samir Sahay, the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the DGCA, who had been conducting investigation into the alleged misdeeds of a dozen senior officials in the organisation, was removed under orders of the MoCA against the advice to the contrary by the DGCA and without assigning any reason. Consequently, action against officers recommended by the CVO remained stalled. It is only to be expected that precipitate action of this kind would raise doubts about the role of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in creating the mess, the DGCA and indeed the Indian civil aviation industry has been, since the boom that began seven years ago.
For nearly a year, there was no forward movement in the process of investigation into the scams as the MoCA had been sitting on the Chief Vigilance Officer’s report. It is now understood that the report has finally been referred to the Central Vigilance Commission seeking “advice” on the penal action to be taken against the guilty.