Govt to consider next week approval of bill to constitute CAA

Government today deferred till next week the approval of a bill to constitute a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for administering and regulating aviation safety to carry out certain changes in it.
The Union Cabinet, which took up the Civil Aviation Authority Bill 2013 at a meeting, decided to take it up again next week after some amendments are carried out in the present draft, official sources said.
The government is in a hurry to take a decision on the issue following the downgrade of India's aviation safety mechanism by US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week.
The Civil Aviation Ministry wants to rush through the passage of this crucial legislation in the ongoing last session of the House.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, which had yesterday tabled a report on the Bill, had suggested that the Civil Aviation Ministry should draft a comprehensive law to replace the 1934 Aircraft Act that still governs aviation sector and include the CAA proposal in it.
However, it also said that if this was not possible, the present legislation should be strengthened by taking into accounts a series of amendments suggested by it.

The panel, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, had said that in the present form, the legislation was not very different from the current law governing the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Once established, the CAA would have safety oversight of air transport operators, airport operators, navigation service providers and those providing other aviation services or facilities, says the draft bill.
The CAA Bill, besides regulating civil aviation safety, empowers the proposed authority to draw up a state safety programme and approve safety management system. The proposed new aviation regulator would also have the powers to levy fees and charges under the 1934 Aircraft Act.