Switch to free market is aviation minister Jyotiraditya's biggest challenge

The undercurrent mindset favours protectionism, with the govt deciding the capacity airlines can deploy and the maximum and minimum fare they can charge

Half a day since Jyotiraditya Scindia was appointed the country’s minister of civil aviation, many have drawn parallels between him and his father Madhav Rao Scindia, stating that it a homecoming of sorts for the son as he sports the shoes dad wore from 1991 to 1993.

But Jyotiraditya will soon realise that he will be heading a very different Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan (the building that houses the Ministry of Civil Aviation) than his father.

The undercurrent in the building is now flowing in favour of protectionism. After the skies reopened on May 25, the government has been controlling the