Posted: Thu, Aug 11 2011. 1:00 AM IST
Tarun Shukla
New Delhi
New Delhi
Prospective Indian pilots and aircraft engineers will need to have Aadhaar or unique identification (UID) numbers to be issued licences from January, under a new rule of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA.
Aadhaar aims to give unique digital identities to every Indian by capturing their demographic data and biometrics.
DGCA, on a drive against fake pilot licences, wants all applicants for pilot or aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) licences to provide Aadhaar numbers in their applications.
“All applications for the issue/renewal of AME/pilot licence including applications for examinations relating to these licences shall be accompanied with an ‘Aadhaar Number UID Card’ with effect from 1st January 2012,” director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan said in a notification issued this month.
Existing pilots and engineers will be reissued licences or endorsed after producing Aadhaar numbers.
“It’s going to be tough for so many to get the UID in such a short time,” said a private airline official who did not want to be identified. “But it’s a good step because UID is given after all the background checks. All the data will also be loaded on the UID so the government will have access to everyone’s antecedents.”
Demand for flight attendants, pilots and engineers is estimated to reach 90,000 by 2020, up from 32,000 in 2011, as the country’s air traffic grows, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Aadhaar plans to issue 600 million numbers by 2014. As of 31 July, it had enrolled about 19 million numbers.
In December, the finance ministry amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, to make the Aadhaar number equivalent to know your customer (KYC) norms, required to open a bank account or conduct a financial transaction.
In January, the department of telecommunications issued a notification to allow the use of UID numbers as proof of identity and address for obtaining telephone connections.
tarun.s@livemint.com
Aadhaar aims to give unique digital identities to every Indian by capturing their demographic data and biometrics.
DGCA, on a drive against fake pilot licences, wants all applicants for pilot or aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) licences to provide Aadhaar numbers in their applications.
“All applications for the issue/renewal of AME/pilot licence including applications for examinations relating to these licences shall be accompanied with an ‘Aadhaar Number UID Card’ with effect from 1st January 2012,” director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan said in a notification issued this month.
Existing pilots and engineers will be reissued licences or endorsed after producing Aadhaar numbers.
“It’s going to be tough for so many to get the UID in such a short time,” said a private airline official who did not want to be identified. “But it’s a good step because UID is given after all the background checks. All the data will also be loaded on the UID so the government will have access to everyone’s antecedents.”
Demand for flight attendants, pilots and engineers is estimated to reach 90,000 by 2020, up from 32,000 in 2011, as the country’s air traffic grows, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Aadhaar plans to issue 600 million numbers by 2014. As of 31 July, it had enrolled about 19 million numbers.
In December, the finance ministry amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, to make the Aadhaar number equivalent to know your customer (KYC) norms, required to open a bank account or conduct a financial transaction.
In January, the department of telecommunications issued a notification to allow the use of UID numbers as proof of identity and address for obtaining telephone connections.
tarun.s@livemint.com