The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Industry (FICCI), yesterday organized an event to acknowledge and felicitate the contribution of women and to celebrate Women’s Achievements in Indian Aviation sector.
The event was graced by Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia asthe Chief Guest. Other dignitaries include Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ashmita Sethi, Co-Chairman, FICCI Aviation Committee & Managing Director of Pratt & Whitney India and. Radha Bhatia, President, Women in Aviation – India Chapter.
Dwelling on the achievement of women in the sector, Scindia, said “This is a landmark day to be remembered. The success of women in aviation is not confined to airports or airplanes but to a much larger ecosystem. 15% of our pilots in India are women which is 3 times more than the global average. But this 15% is not good enough as women have surpassed various odds and stereotypes and I firmly believe there must come a day in India that this 15% must reach 50% of our pilot strength in our country. For this to achieve, we must start from having easy access to STEM education to our young girls in their early education”.
The Minister further added “In next decade, the backbone of Indian infrastructure is going to be civil aviation which transports roughly 144 million people and have a growth potential double that of Indian Railways. Therefore, there is a need to train more pilots. For this, we have come out with a new FTO policy in which we are looking to setup 9 new FTOs in 5 new cities as this will help in reducing the outflow of foreign exchange in training our pilots abroad and unleashing another avenue for our women to participate much greater in civil aviation.”
20 women achievers who have played a significant role in the aviation sector, were felicitated during the event. Apart from Felicitation ceremony, a book was also released titled “From Sarees to Strip – TrueStories of Commercial Women Pilots in India “authored by Manisha Puri depicting the ascendency of women in Indian Aviation.
