Sudhir Raheja given extra charge as AAI chairman

Member (Planning) Sudhir Raheja has been given the additional charge of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman after R K Srivastava’s tenure was curtailed suddenly by the government.

This is the second time Raheja has been entrusted with the task of heading the national airport company.

In August 2014, Raheja was given the additional charge following the repatriation of the then acting Chairman Alok Sinha to his parent cadre, Uttar Pradesh.

“Raheja today (Friday) took over the additional charge of the post left vacant by the sudden exit of R K Srivastava,” an AAI source said. Srivastava, a 1984 batch Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer, was removed from the post by the government, nearly 15 months after he was brought at the helm for a five-year term.

58-year-old Srivastava had taken charge on January 2, 2015 and his appointment was announced by the government in December 2014. His tenure was for five years.

However, this is not for the first time that an AAI Chairman has been shown the door. In January 2014, the then UPA government had abruptly removed V P Agarwal.

AAI manages 125 airports, including 18 international aerodromes, 78 domestic and 26 civil enclaves at defence airfields.

It also provides air navigation services. Set up under an Act of Parliament, AAI came into being in April 1995 by merging erstwhile National Airports Authority and International Airports Authority of India.