Punjab Government on Tuesday approved two new aircrafts, worth Rs10 crore, for Civil Aviation Clubs at Patiala and Amritsar.
The nod, in an attempt to professionalise the training of flying as a promising career, was given by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while presiding over the first meeting of Punjab State Civil Aviation Council.
Badal asked the Civil Aviation Department to ensure functioning of Aviation Clubs at Patiala and Amritsar on the modern lines and spruce them up with latest equipment in terms of these new aircrafts.
He also directed the department to undertake renovation and upgradation of the flying club at ludhiana during the next year. Taking part in the deliberations, the Council CEO APS Virk apprised Badal that the academic session of the upcoming Punjab State Aeronautical Engineering College (PSAEC) in the premises of existing flying club Patiala, with an intake capacity of 60 students would begin from 2017. He said that the state-of-the-art aeronautical college would impart the best practical training to the students in flying and ground repair.
The college would be imparting degree-level engineering programmes and was being constructed at cost of Rs26 crore under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), he said. The facilities at Patiala would produce hi-tech pilots, diploma-level mechanics and degree-level engineers.
A diploma institute called Punjab Aircraft Maintenance College (PMEC) is also being revived as it had shut down due to lack of equipment as per Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.
The requisite equipment has since been purchased and inspected by DGCA team and the intake capacity of this institute is 30 students per year.
The Chief Minister also asked the Technical Education Board and Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) to immediately release requisite funds for the purchase of two new aircrafts, of which one aircraft would be multi engine as per the guidelines issued by the DGCA. Badal also gave go ahead for the recruitment of teaching faculty and other requisite staff in PSAEC so as to ensure its functioning in smooth and result oriented manner.
