India, July 21 -- An undermanned civil aviation regulator is not acceptable in any situation - let alone in a scenario where air travel in its jurisdiction is booming. The fact that 48% of the technical posts at the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) are lying vacant (some for several years), as HT reported Sunday, should, therefore, be cause for concern. Given some of these posts relate to safety-critical functions - from monitoring airline safety compliance to overseeing aircraft safety standards and from conducting incident investigation to carrying out technical oversight - inadequate staffing could erode flier confidence in a sector where such guarantees are paramount. Pending recruitment to the extent needed, regulatory efficiency comes under strain as the existing staff are spread too thin - ripe for fostering lapses in assessment, reporting, and even licensing of airline personnel. This, in turn, could affect airlines as clearances and approvals get delayed. That the shortage of personnel extends to the second rung of leadership is particularly worrisome. All 18 of the deputy director general (DDG) posts being vacant signals a crisis not just for present operations but also future leadership - top-level vacancies can't be filled as they arise, given the stipulations on experience at the middle level for elevation to these posts. A present backlog thus casts a long shadow on the flight safety and regulatory efficiency for years to come. The wide array of regulatory functions vested with DGCA personnel adds another layer of complexity to the problem of personnel shortage. Against this backdrop, a missing middle means critical links between ground-level personnel and the policy/decision-making officers at the top are absent, affecting feedback and improvement in the way regulatory functions align with direction and vision. Add staff shortage to the allegations of graft and competence deficits that several experts have flagged over the years, and the problems in India's civil aviation regulator call for urgent redressal. India needs to take a cue from comparable air traffic jurisdictions, in terms of absolute numbers as well as per flight and passenger. It is also important to ensure DGCA is adequately funded. Beyond all this, there is also a need to explore if too many responsibilities have been vested in a single body with very little autonomy, and if new regulators need to be created so that some of these responsibilities can be hived off to them. Against the backdrop of the Air India crash last month, India can't afford a constrained civil aviation regulator....