SSB chief faces additional charges as BCAS CEO amid bomb threats to airlines | Latest Indian News

The Union government’s swiftness in ensuring continuity of the post of Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety (BCAS) chief and its delay in responding to Mizoram’s request to transfer the current civil aviation minister to the state is likely due to the ongoing crisis in aviation due to bomb threats, sources familiar with the matter said. situation.

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Senior IPS officer Amrit Mohan Prasad, currently the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) chief, took on additional responsibilities as director general (DG) of BCAS on Friday, a day after the government issued an order appointing him to the position. fast. However, the Center is yet to consider the Mizoram government’s request to appoint current civil aviation minister Vumlunmang Vualnam, an IAS officer since 1992, as the state’s chief secretary, the people added, asking not to be named. The Mizoram government on Thursday appointed 2005 batch junior IAS officer H Lalengmawla as acting chief secretary.

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An official in the Mizoram Chief Minister’s Office confirmed that during CM Lalduhoma’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah last month, Lalduhoma had demanded the transfer of Civil Aviation Minister Vualnam from Manipur to AGMUT to enable him to be appointed chief bureaucrat of Mizoram. AGMUT stands for Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories.

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“The CM made a verbal request to the Prime Minister and His Majesty (Minister of Home Affairs). It hasn’t been rejected yet. The Prime Minister, upon returning to Mizoram on October 26, also informed his senior colleagues about his request. The appointment of the current chief secretary is temporary,” the CMO spokesperson added, requesting anonymity.

The BCAS post is considered important enough for the government to appoint him full-time soon, added the people mentioned in the first instance.

“It is possible that the government will appoint a full-time director general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety (BCAS) within the next one or two weeks. In the past few weeks, as the threat of hoax calls has increased, former CEO Zulfiqar Hasan (who resigned on Thursday) and the civil aviation minister attended all meetings. These meetings were attended not only by ministers or senior government officials, but also by airline and airport operator executives. While the Mizoram government may have wanted a north-easterner as the chief secretary, changing him would not be a good idea until someone equally senior is found for the top job,” said one of them, a senior government official.

BCAS officials said new chief Prasad arrived at the agency’s headquarters in New Delhi on Friday afternoon and took charge. BCAS, along with the civil aviation ministry, is also in the process of making changes to the safety protocol when airlines and airports receive bomb threats.

In October alone, airports, flight operators, police and CISF units in different states received more than 300 bomb threats. These were all hoaxes, but they still disrupted flight operations and caused airline losses; in each case, the airline and security authorities had to follow established protocol.

BCAS has the primary responsibility for prescribing security measures by establishing aviation security standards in accordance with Annex 17 of the ICAO Chicago Convention for airport operators, airline operators and their security agencies. CISF implements the rules prescribed by BCAS. He is also involved in planning and coordinating aviation security issues.