'AIM IS TO MAKE CIVIL AVIATION MORE PEOPLE-CENTRIC

Civil Aviatior K INJARAPU Rammohan Naidu, 36, is one of the youngest ministers in the current government, managing the high-profile civil aviation ministry.

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He is a three-time MP. There have been numerous developments in the sector, including a bill introduced on August 9 that seeks to repeal the Indian Aircraft Act, which has been amended 21 times. Excerpts: Naidu: The bill, Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024, was my first after becoming a minister during the first Budget session.

We introduced it, passed it in the Lok Sabha. It was already approved by the cabinet before I took charge of the ministry.

One of the key reasons for introducing a new version of the bill I'll call it a new version because we're repealing the old one and reorganising its sections is that after amending the old bill 21 times, its structure became fragmented and unclear. We often didn't know how many sections there were or why they were included.

Aviation, from a global perspective, requires adherence to certain international standards. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency, has often advised us to re-examine our existing Act, make it more organised, and integrate rules and regulations into the principal Act to strengthen our civil aviation framework.

This feedback from international organisations prompted us to rethink the Act. We decided to redesign it, addressing the challenges and restructuring it to better define the powers of important bodies like the DGCA, BCAS, and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, along with the ministry itself.

Another significant aspect was creating a new definition for civil aviation in the country.

We introduced definitions in the bill, such as "design" which is crucial as we aim to improve our manufacturing sector and become self-sustainable under the Make in India initiative.