A clearer picture on whether any action should be initiated against senior officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for allegedly using their position to get jobs for their kin in various airlines will emerge in the next three-to-six months.

Official sources told Business Line that an inquiry against some DGCA officials was started late last year based on reports that some of them may have violated their service rules.

“In Government service, if you are working for a Department which has direct dealing with an institution where your children or spouse work, then a superior has to be informed. We need to find out whether extraneous pressures were used to get employment and whether the Government was informed about the employment,” a senior Government official said.

It is alleged that some senior DGCA officials’ kin were working with several private airlines in various departments. The inquiry process was likely to take another three-to-six months to be completed, officials said. While declining to name the officials against whom an inquiry was being conducted, sources indicated that at least eight DGCA officials were said to be under the scanner.

Sources said it was still too early to say whether any action including dismissal from service will be taken against those being investigated.

“Can we stop a child who is keen on becoming a pilot from joining an airline just because one parent works with the DGCA? Action, if any, will be initiated only after the inquiry is completed,” officials said.

At least eight senior DGCA officials are said to be under investigation for using their influence to get jobs for their kin in private airlines.

> ashwini.phadnis@thehindu.co.in

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