• Vikas Kujur was pursuing civil
engineering studies in 2009 when the state government decided to train
tribal and other underprivileged youths as commercial pilots. The
24-year-old left his course midway and joined the promising program
• Raj Kumar (26) was a probationary officer with State Bank of India. He, too, quit his job because he wanted to fly high
The two who had initially made
different — and perhaps right — career choices three years ago, today
share the same fate: a very uncertain future.
Their wings have, ironically, been
clipped by none other than a government that pledged pilot training,
botched up cradle selection not once but twice, proposed a flying
institute in the state and has been hobbling since to obtain the
mandatory licence from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“Had I continued
my studies, I would have become a civil engineer in 2011. I lost three
precious years of my life in pursuit of a dream (commercial pilot) that
should have taken only 10 months to realize,” said Vikas, a Lohardaga
resident who was pursuing engineering at a Bhubaneswar college.
Among the 29 boys
and one girl who were handpicked by the government in early 2009 for the
training, Vikas is not the only one to quit academics. Jagdeep Karmali
from Khalari, Piku Tiu from Chaibasa and Divya Ekka from Ranchi were all
studying engineering at BIT-Sindri, but decided to give passion a
chance.
Two other youths
among the group were a tad wiser. Ankit Lakra, a BIT-Mesra student, and
Prakash Ekka from NIT-Patna returned to their respective cradles after
they discovered in May 2010 that the Hyderabad-based flying institute
selected by the state government to train them had run into trouble.
“Sometimes I feel
I’ve made a terrible mistake by joining a government program. Next
moment, I console myself saying that my dream will take wing in a few
more months. Maybe I am hoping against hope,” said Raj Kumar of Bokaro,
who would have had a permanent bank job by now.
His feelings are
not alien to any of the 28 youths still waiting — some of them at their
makeshift home at Morabadi’s Tribal Research Institute — for resumption
of the pilot program.
With the noble
intention to offer free pilot training to 30 underprivileged youths, the
state welfare department handpicked Hyderabad-based Spica Aviation
Academy.
The aspirants who were sent to the cradle in March 2009 soon discovered that the flying cradle had no permission from the DGCA.
The government
once again — and this time through an open tender — selected
Bilaspur-based Sai Flytech to train the youths in November 2010. A year
later, the trainees returned home because the DGCA cancelled the
cradle’s license over irregularities.
Having burnt its
finger twice, the state decided to float its own cradle. The Jharkhand
Flying Institute was proposed last year for resumption of training.
The school was to
be set up in Ranchi with two Czech-made Zlin aircraft, three gliders and
one twin-engine aeroplane for immediate training infrastructure. The
state civil aviation department had also decided to rope in a private
instructor. It perhaps only forgot the license.
“For four months,
we have knocked every possible government door, urging officials to
obtain the licence from DGCA and start our training. But our pleas have
fallen on deaf years,” complained 29-year-old Harilal Bhagat of
Lohardaga, who quit his job as a block program officer to train as a
pilot.
“I cannot hold back my age. If the training is delayed, I may find it difficult to get a job in any airline,” he added.
Sources in the
civil aviation department said that the state had sent licence
applications to the DGCA twice, but they were returned owing to either
incomplete or improper documentation. A fresh request was made a month
ago.
“Getting licence
for a flying institute takes time. The DGCA is, currently, verifying our
infrastructure. We may get the license in a month or two,” said V.K.
Singh, secretary, civil aviation.
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