Comments
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Saturday has released a draft National Air Sports Policy 2022 (NASP) to promote the air sports sector. The policy aims to make the air sports sector safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable. The vision is to make India as one of the top air sports nations by 2030.
Air sports encompasses various sports activities involving the medium of air. These include sports such as air-racing, aerobatics, aeromodelling, hang gliding, paragliding, paramotoring and skydiving.
Systems and processes need to be simplified and made more transparent; focus on quality, safety and security needs to be enhanced; and investments in infrastructure, technology, training and awareness building need to be facilitated, the draft policy says.
India has the potential to be among the top nations in the world of air sports. It is time to make it happen, said Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary to the Government of India, Chairperson, NASP Drafting Committee.
What does the draft NASP 2022 entail?
The draft NASP 2022 was prepared by a drafting committee comprising senior officials from the Centre, Indian Armed forces, Aero Club of India, National Cadet Corps and air sports experts, It is being placed in the public domain to receive suggestions (latest by January 31, 2022) as India plans to bring out a NASP to promote the air sports sector.
The key objectives of NASP 2022 will include promotion of an air sports culture in the country; adopt international best practices in safety including but not limited to, air sports infrastructure, equipment, operations, maintenance and training; develop India as a preferred global hub for air sports and develop a simple, stakeholder-friendly and effective governance structure. The plan is also to develop and manufacture air sports equipment in India in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the draft policy says.
The draft paper says there is a plan to have a two-tier governance structure for air sports in India with Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) as the apex governing body and associations for each air sport for handling day to day activities like Paragliding Association of India or Skydiving Association of India.
ASFI shall be an autonomous body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and represent India at FAI and other global platforms related to air sports. It will also provide governance over all aspects of air sports including but not limited to, regulation, certification, competitions, awards and penalties.
The State Governments and Union Territories will endeavour to develop the necessary infrastructure and facilitate promotion of air sports and tourism. This may include development of new air sports centres, construction of new runways or repairing existing ones, development of new launch and landing pads; and financial support for events and training etc.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) IOC is considering the inclusion of air sports in IOC-approved sporting events. All competitions in India will be conducted as per the guidelines laid down by the Switzerland-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale enabling the air sports associations to keep track of performances as per global norms, the draft paper said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.