The Ministry of Civil Aviation is caught in a vacancy problem. While who fills the shoes of merged Air India National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL)’s CMD V Thulasidas at the month end remains a closely guarded secret, the DGCA story is also worrying the ministry. The ministry’s hunt for an “eligible” man to head the Directorate General of Civil Aviation seems to have come a cropper yet again. While its earlier attempts had come to naught and incumbent Kanu Gohain was given a six-month extension up to June 2008, the ads put out in December 2007 have attracted only two candidates—this when the dates for application were extended to the end of March 2008. Unfortunately, though eminent persons from the aviation industry, the two do not meet the tough eligibility criteria for the post: mimimum12 years of experience in aviation, flying, aircraft engineering or air worthiness, out of which a minimum of five years of experience in administration and finance. Now, the suggestion is to tweak the eligibility criteria. But who will give a nod to this?
