Bhullar may be acting DGCA chief, hunt on for full-time DG

NEW DELHI: Senior aviation ministry official B S Bhullar is likely to be given additional charge as Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday with the incumbent, M Sathiavathy, being named as the next secretary, ministry of labour and employment. Bhullar, an additional secretary in the aviation ministry, is a 1986 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.
"The process of selecting the full time DGCA will take some time.In the interim period, a senior official will be given additional charge of the post. Bhullar could be given additional charge as DG," said a highly placed source.
The top source also scotched rumours of Air India chief Ashwani Lohani being moved out of the airline to the Railways. Lohani has been seen as instrumental in bringing about key changes that have helped AI in getting back on track. In recent days, there has been intense speculation that Lohani may be appointed Railway Board chairman or be made in charge of the Bullet Train project. "Lohani will continue to run planes and not go back to trains," the top source said.
Meanwhile, the government has a list of people from whom it will choose the next DG that includes Bhullar; former India representative of International Civil Aviation Organisation Prashat Sukul and DGCA joint DG J S Rawat. Alok Sinha, a UP cadre IAS officer who has worked in aviation ministry for many years, was also in running for DGCA top job but with his cousin Jayant Sinha becoming the aviation minister (state rank), his candidature is all but rules out.
Sathiavathy, an lAS officer of 1982 cadre, was appointed officer on special duty (OSD) in the ministry of labour and employment with “immediate effect”. She will take over as secretary of the ministry when the incumbent retires.
The government will try to find a successor to Sathiyavathy at the earliest but several important organisations under the aviation ministry like Airports Authority of India and Bureau for Civil Aviation Security have had to wait for a chief for very long time. They got their respective chiefs only recently after being run by people holding additional charge.