This is how Modi is going to select the next DGCA chief and it will not only by eligibility or credentials

This time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is going to break away from the usual norm and do something different.

For the first time, the Indian government is going to choose the next Director General of the country's aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), through an interview process.

Presently, the DGs are selected based on their eligibility and credentials, who are shortlisted from a bunch of resumes.

As per reports, all four joint DGs have been called for an interview.

"However, interviewing joint DGs does not guarantee that the government would select someone as DG from within the organisation,” an official told ET.

The DGCA is running without a DG since August when M Sathiyavathy left the post after she was appointed as OSD to the Ministry of Labour & Employment.

The post is being handled by BS Bhullar, additional secretary in the aviation ministry.

"The government should select someone who makes DGCA work as an independent body and support the growth of the aviation industry. I would like the government decide on whether he should be a technocrat or generalist, but the person selected for the post should be a senior person,” Shakti Lumba, an aviation analyst who previously headed operations at Air India and IndiGo, told ET.

"Over the years, DGCA, rather than becoming an independent regulator, has become an extension of the civil aviation ministry,” Lumba told ET.

The government has changed recruitment rules for the DGCA chief and now officials from all central government services can apply for the post.