Nepali Congress lawmakers discuss air safety issue with PM Oli

KATHMANDU, Aug 08:The Congress has begun 'lobbying' to divide the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) into two separate organizations: a service provider and a regulatory authority. On Sunday, Congress MPs met with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and asked him to move forward with the draft dividing the CAAN into two entities to ensure airspace security.

The Prime Minister and the Congress leader met to address problems such as tourism growth and promotion, as well as the safety and reliability of the air security system.

Bajgai stated: "When the regulatory body of the aviation sector works as both a service provider and a regulator, there is a conflict of interest." As a result, it does not appear to be consistent with international aviation practice for a single agency to build an airport and grant permission for aircraft operations, so the CAAN must be divided into a service provider and a regulatory agency in order to improve aviation security and reliability.

The European Union (EU) expressed interest in Nepal's aviation safety and proposed separating the regulating agency. Nepali Congress Chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba, Joint General Minister Jeevan Pariyar, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Foreign Minister Dr Arju Rana Deuba, MP Iswori Neupane, Sanjay Gautam, Udaya Shamsher Rana, Rajan KC, Pratima Gautam, Rajendra Bajgai, Sarita Prasai, Ramkrishna Yadav, Pushpa Bahadur Shahi, Shanti Pariyar, Sita Mijar, and others were in attendance.

According to MP Bajgai, the law dividing the CAAN into two entities was earlier passed by the National Assembly but became inactive after not being tabled to the House. The bill advocated the creation of distinct bodies to handle the roles of regulatory agencies and service providers.