Aviation Ministry to Restructure BCAS: Scindia

Mumbai, Jan 13 (PTI) Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said his ministry is looking at a template to restructure the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

Besides, the minister said the workforce at BCAS, the country's aviation security body, will be increased by 400-450 people.

Passenger traffic, fleet size and number of airports are growing, but the back-end infrastructure also has to grow to support this high rate of growth in the civil aviation sector, he said.

"And therefore, all our agencies, whether it is air traffic controllers, we have in the last 15 months, increased their capacity by almost close to 33-45 per cent, from close to 2,796 to almost 3,940," he said here.

He was addressing a media briefing after taking a review meeting of the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport.

"We are in the process of hiring new ATCOs, most of whom have been hired. The process of training is going on, and deployment will take place by October-November this year," he said.

A similar situation is at BCAS, which is responsible for security, Scindia said, adding, "I am, right now, looking at a template for the restructuring of the organisation itself...in addition to increasing the capacity by almost 400-450 staff".

"I have always maintained that safety and security for us is paramount," he added.