The Government will certainly be taking up steps to post "a regular person” as Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, RN Choubey, Secretary Civil Aviation said on Wednesday.

Late last week the Government appointed Rajiv Bansal, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the petroleum ministry as Chairman and Managing Director for a period of three months. Bansal has been given additional charge of Air India.

The decision to appoint an interim CMD for Air India and for a period of three months only raised eyebrows in many quarters.

"It was an interim arrangement and the Government will certainly be taking steps to post a regular person as CMD Air India,” Choubey said on the sidelines of an aviation seminar organised by Assocham.

He explained that the circumstances required that some one immediately be posted as Chairman Railway Board which saw the Government decide on Ashwani Lohani being posted there.

"So he (Lohani) was posted immediately. Within the short time available it is a litte difficult to immediately locate another person for Air India,” he added.

In the last few months there have been a spate of accidents in which passengers have lost their lives which promopted the Government to shift Lohani as the new Chairman Railway Board. Lohani was shifted from AI to the post of Chairman Railway Board within 24 hours of a train derailing last week.

Bansal has been appointed CMD AI at a time when the Government is already started the process of divesting its stake in the state owned airline. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the divestment of Air India on June 28 and the Government is keen to complete the entire process at the earliest.

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