India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is operating with only 50% of its staff having 1,644 sanctioned positions but 823 posts currently vacant, including hundreds in critical technical roles. This was revealed in a written reply by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The revelation comes at a time when India’s aviation sector is growing rapidly, raising serious questions about the regulatory capacity of DGCA to ensure safety, pilot training quality, and oversight amid mounting safety issues across airlines, especially after the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 that killed 260 people.
Nearly 70% of the vacant positions (575 out of 823) are in Group A, which includes senior technical and regulatory roles.
Notably, 426 new technical posts were created between 2022 and 2024. However, the inability to fill these posts quickly points to a slow recruitment pipeline and bureaucratic hurdles.
When asked about the number of bureaucrats currently holding positions within DGCA, the reply offered only a generic response saying “the posts in DGCA dealing with administrative and financial matters and their support staff are filled through the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), etc.”
The government did not disclose how many posts are currently occupied by non-technical bureaucrats, an issue that has often been flagged by industry experts who argue for a technically led regulatory ecosystem.
(Edited by : Poonam Behura)
First Published: Jul 28, 2025 9:27 PM IST
