The Hindu : New Delhi News : Manmohan's intervention sought in DGCA terms for pilots

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 05, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Manmohan's intervention sought in DGCA terms for pilots

Special Correspondent

An archaic idea, says Republican Party of India Member of Parliament

NEW DELHI: Ramdas Athawale, a Republican Party of India (RPI) Lok Sabha member, has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the directive of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) with regard to the mandatory requirement of six months' notice for pilots seeking employment with other carriers.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Athawale pointed out that the "archaic idea" of six months notice for pilots should be done away with. "In an economy driven by market forces, I find it rather regressive that whereas specialists in the public health care sector can quit the services of a premier government hospital such as the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) without giving any notice whatsoever, pilots both in public and private sector, are being unnecessarily harassed by the DGCA," he said. Mr. Athawale also raised the issue of the DGCA being allegedly pressured by the Air India top brass to grant approval to the "illegal training" of Boeing-777 instructors. He said that a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition had been filed by Sanjay Raut, MP, in the Bombay High Court against Air India and the DGCA on the same issue.

He sought the withdrawal of the regulation mandating pilots to give six months' notice and urged Dr. Singh to intervene in order to stop attempts by the DGCA to grant approval to the "ineligible" pilots.

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