Press Information Bureau, 9 September 2012: ICAO conducts regular, mandatory, systematic and harmonized safety audits of all the contracting States to ensure that the States are fulfilling their obligation of safety oversight under the Chicago Convention. As a signatory to the Chicago Convention, India, like all other Contracting States, is also audited by ICAO.
ICAO under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) conducted audit of DGCA in the year 1999, 2001 and 2006 under its comprehensive systems approach (CSA).
The audit of October, 2006 resulted in 70 findings and recommendations in the areas of legislation, organization, operations, airworthiness, licensing, aerodromes, air navigation services and accident investigation. The main areas of concern related to shortage of manpower in DGCA, lack of regulation of air navigation services in India, independence of aircraft accident/incident investigation and enforcement of aviation regulations. Out of the 70 findings and recommendations, 66 have been implemented. Also action has already been initiated for implementation in respect of the following four findings and recommendations:-
i. Shortage of manpower in DGCA.
ii. Lack of training for technical manpower.
iii. Framing of regulations for certification of Air Navigation Services.
iv. Licensing of all Aerodromes used for Scheduled air Transport Services. ICAO would be conducting an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) of India in December, 2012 to assess and validate the corrective actions taken by India on the findings and recommendations of the audit of India conducted by ICAO in October, 2006.
In order to ensure safety, the officers of DGCA conduct regular inspections/surveillance of airlines, operators, approved organizations including training establishments to ensure that they continue to meet the safety regulatory requirements.
This information was given by the Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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