For the last few months, it has been like a never-ending feud between Union Home Ministry and Ministry of Civil Aviation to control the BCAS. This aviation security regulator reports to Civil Aviation Ministry since inception, while CISF, that has the responsibility of maintaining security at airports, reports to MHA. After CISF saw its strength increasing to 1.80 lac personnel (from 1.45 lac) in December 2016, its aspirations too got wings to have the control over BCAS. The tussle for BCAS has been so sharp that the competent authority has conveyed a meeting of the MHA & Aviation ministries to arrive at a conclusion. Once the harmony is established between the two ministries and a consensus reached, a newly sanctioned post of Joint DG (IG rank post) will be given the ACC nod. Indianmandarins has learned that there is mixed opinion on the issue as the prevalent model across the world equally endorses the claims of both aviation and home ministries. At a recent discussion held between MHA & MoCA, it was argued that generally three models of aviation security are widely recognized. In the US, it comes under Homeland Security; in Japan, aviation security falls under transport (which include Surface, Water & Air) whereas in Israel it falls under ISA (Israel Security Agency). All there models prevalent in the USA, Japan & Israel are considered the best in the world so both MHA and BCAs can not claim to be the best in this sphere. Though the aviation ministry has refused to give up BCAS control and has conveyed to the MHA that it has been firming up a plan to make its own force - Aviation Security Force - for airports. Upset over the delay in the issuance of security clearances for new airlines and airports (which comes under MHA), the aviation secretary wrote to the PMO to expedite issuance of such clearances. It may be noted that BCAS is responsible for laying down standards and measures in respect of the security of all commercial flights. It was set up as a cell in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in 1978 after the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight in September 1976. The security wing was reorganized into an independent department in 1987 under the civil aviation ministry after the Kanishka tragedy in June 1985. Differences between the two ministries have impacted reforms in the aviation sector. BCAS had last month announced a move to abolish cabin baggage tags, but the CISF (in charge of security at all airports) did not implement the February 23 order that announced the removal of cabin baggage tags at the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Kochi airports. Recent developments suggest that CISF agreed on doing away with the cabin baggage tag only after a stern reminder was issued.