The Union government’s promptness in ensuring continuity of the post of chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), and its delay in responding to a request from Mizoram for the transfer of the current civil aviation secretary to the state are both likely on account of the ongoing crisis in aviation on account of bomb threats, people familiar with the matter said.
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Senior IPS officer Amrit Mohan Prasad, currently, the chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), took additional charge as the BCAS director general (DG) on Friday, a day after government issued an order appointing him to the post. But, the Centre is yet to consider Mizoram government’s request to appoint current civil aviation secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam, a 1992 batch IAS officer, as the state’s chief secretary, the people added, asking not to be named. The Mizoram government on Thursday appointed a junior IAS officer of the 2005 batch, H Lalengmawla , as the acting chief secretary.
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An official in the Mizoram chief minister’s office confirmed that during CM Lalduhoma’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah last month, Lalduhoma had requested the transfer of civil aviation secretary Vualnam from the Manipur cadre to the AGMUT cadre, to enable him to be inducted as Mizoram’s top bureaucrat. AGMUT stands for Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and union territories.
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“The CM verbally requested the PM and HM (home minister). It has not been rejected yet. The CM upon returning to Mizoram on October 26 also informed his senior colleagues about his request. The current chief secretary’s appointment is temporary,” the CMO official added, asking not to be named.
The BCAS post is considered critical enough for the government to make a full-time appointment soon, the people cited in the first instance added.
“It is possible that the government appoints a full time DG for Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) within the next one or two weeks. In the last few weeks, since the menace of hoax calls increased, the former DG, Zulfiquar Hasan (who retired on Thursday) and the civil aviation secretary have been part of all meetings. These meetings were not just with ministers or top government officers but also included airline CEOs and airport operators. While the Mizoram government may have wanted a chief secretary who is from north east, it will not be a good decision to change him until someone equally senior is found for the top job,” one of them, a senior government officer said.
Officials in BCAS said the new chief, Prasad, reached the agency’s headquarters in New Delhi on Friday afternoon and took charge. BCAS, along with the civil aviation ministry, is also in the process of making changes to the security protocol when airlines and airports receive bomb threats.
In October alone, airports, flight operators, police, and CISF units across states received over 300 bomb threats. All were hoaxes, but they still disrupted flight operations and resulted in losses to the airlines; in each case, the airline and security agencies had to follow the prescribed protocol.
BCAS is primarily responsible for prescribing security measures by laying Aviation Security Standards in accordance with Annexure 17 to Chicago Convention of ICAO for airport operators, airlines operators, and their security agencies. CISF implements the rules prescribed by BCAS. It is also involved in planning and coordination of aviation security matters.