Women make up 15% of India's pilot workforce, exceeds global average by 10%: MoS VK Singh

In a firm assertion of women empowerment in the country, India stands ahead of the world in terms of the number of women pilots. The Centre informed Parliament on Monday that India has around 2,764 trained women pilots among a total of 17,726 registered pilots. With 15% of its flying force made up of women, India is way ahead of the international average of 5%.

In a written response in Rajya Sabha, MoS Civil Aviation Gen.(Retd) VK Singh, informed that 15% of pilots in the country are females. On being asked about the development of new aviation universities in the country, the Union Minister said that no proposal to establish more aviation universities through the Public-Private Partnership model is being considered currently. The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) is India's sole aviation university, established in Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) in 2013 under the RGNAU Act. It works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation's administrative jurisdiction.

“As of date, there is no proposal with the Government to establish any other aviation university through the Public-Private Partnership model. As per the information available with eGCA, out of the 17,726 registered pilots in India, the number of women pilots is 2,764,” MoS Singh said in the written response, as per a press statement.

Govt efforts to boost India's Aviation Sector

The Union Minister further informed that the Ministry of Civil Aviation and its associated organisations have taken a number of steps to promote the training of pilots in the country. These include award letters for nine new Flying Training Organisations (FTO) at five Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports (Belagavi, Jalgaon, Kalaburagi, Khajuraho, and Lilabari) with rationalised land charges and other improvements, digitisation of approval processes at the regulator DGCA, and greater empowerment of Flying Instructors, among other things.

These actions are expected to raise the number of hours flown at FTOs and the number of Commercial Pilot Licenses given each year. All aspiring pilots, including women pilots, will gain from this, the Union government informed.

To encourage women to join the aviation sector, MoS VK Singh informed Rajya Sabha that the Civil Aviation Ministry is working in collaboration with the Women in Aviation International (WAI) - India Chapter, which conducts several awareness programmes across the country, along with leading women aviation professionals, with special focus on young schoolgirls, especially from low-income families. 

(Image: PTI)