DG Bhushan offers to resign from AI board

The Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Civil Aviation Ministry and air safety regulator chief,EK Bharat Bhushan has offered to resign from the Air India Board.

The Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Civil Aviation Ministry and air safety regulator chief,EK Bharat Bhushan has offered to resign from the Air India Board,according to a civil aviation ministry official. However,the ministry has not responded to his offer yet.

The Boards strength was reduced to 10 after two independent directors Amit Mitra and industrialist Anand Mahindra quit recently. While two functional directors Anup Srivastava and Amod Sharma completed their five-year term.

Bhushan,a government appointee on the airlines board,has been a member for over two years. He was also briefly appointed as the chairman and managing director of the beleaguered airline in April,2009 in place of CMD Raghu Menon.

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In his letter,said sources,Bhushan wrote that there is a potential conflict of interest as he also holds the post of the air safety regulator. In December last year,Bhushan was appointed as the Director General of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for a period of six-months till June.

The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) recently extended his tenure by six months after the ministry failed to find a suitable candidate for the critical job.

When contacted,Bhushan confirmed that he has offered to resign from the Air India Board.

Being the regulator,it would not be appropriate to continue as an airline board member, he said. As the regulator,DGCA issues operating permit to the airline and conducts its safety audit.

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To avoid conflict issues,all financial matters related to the DGCA are looked after by a separate financial advisor in the civil aviation ministry.

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