The first ever national aviation university is all set to come up at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s constituency of Rae Bareli in UP. The university is named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The university would train pilots, cabin crew and aircraft engineers. It also promote aviation studies, training and research with focus on emerging areas like aviation management, aviation regulation and policy, aviation history, aviation science and engineering, aviation law, aviation safety and security and aviation medicine.
The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Bill, 2013, introduced by MoS for civil aviation K.C. Venugopal, provides for creation of this Central university on a 26-acre plot of land at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy at Fursatganj in Rae Bareli. The bill was introduced on the 69th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. The university would have an estimated funding of `202 crore during the 12th Plan period, of which `80 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre. The bill said a need for a university was felt due to the “marked absence of credible institutions imparting specialised technical and managerial training in air transportation, safety, security and regulatory areas.”
It also said, “The opportunity cost of not investing in human resources required for the civil aviation sector in India at this juncture would result in reduced growth, increased cost of operations, compromise on safety and missed opportunities.”