Speaking of the DGCA,
Bharat Bhushan asked to quit as head of aviation regulatory body DGCA
New Delhi
EK Bharat Bhushan has been asked to quit as chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the body which supervises safety and implementation other civil aviation reglations.* While there was no official word on the reasons for his removal as DGCA by the Civil Aviation ministry, there has been speculation that his recent warnings to Air India and Kingfisher Airlines to pay dues to their employees may have gone against him.
Mr Bhushan, an IAS officer of the 1979 batch from Kerala cadre who took over from Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi in December 2010 as DGCA chief, will continue to serve as Additional Secretary in the ministry, official sources said.
Mr Bhushan handed over charge to Prashant Narain Sukul, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry, who would also be holding the position as an additional charge, they said.
On July 4, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved the extension of additional charge of the post of DGCA to Bhushan for another year "with effect from 01.12.2011 or till the appointment of a regular incumbent, whichever is earlier."
As the Director General of Civil Aviation, Bhushan brought in stringent measures to prevent airlines from compromising on safety matters on account of their financial trouble.
He had bluntly told loss-making Air India and Kingfisher Airlines to pay up the employees' dues soon enough so that their performance was not affected. Both the airlines have faulted on timely payment of salaries and allowances for several months.
He had said that safety could be adversely affected by a demotivated staff, particularly a pilot, an engineer or a cabin crew if they were not paid their salaries and dues.
Source: NDTV, India.