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Shedding its defensive posture, the scam-hit UPA Government on Friday said the Prime Minister was ready to make a statement on coal block allocation, provided the Opposition will allow it.
“Our strategy in Parliament has been largely based around one word — patience. They should show the Prime Minister the courtesy of making a statement in the House. I sincerely hope on Monday the Prime Minister will be allowed to make a statement,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.
Addressing a joint press conference here, along with the Ministers of Coal and Law, Sriprakash Jaiswal, and Salman Khursheed respectively, Chidambaram said the Prime Minister is ready to face any question and give an answer to the Opposition. “The people of India should know the truth.”
If the Prime Minister is not allowed to speak on Monday, he will try to reach out to people in some other ways, the Ministers said. “If coal is not mined, where is the loss? Loss would have arisen if coal would have been taken out of mother Earth. It is sad that we cannot say this on the floor of Parliament,” Chidambaram said.
The Ministers said they would provide evidence to Parliament on how States opposed coal block auctioning when the UPA-I Government mooted the idea in 2004. The Government is expected to produce letters written by then Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje; Chief Secretary of West Bengal Asok Gupta; Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh K. Vijayavargiya; and Commissioner and Secretary to Government of Orissa G. C. Pati, opposing Centre’s move to introduce the competitive bidding process.
Sources told Business Line that in these letters to the Prime Minister’s Office during March-July 2005, the States wanted to continue with the existing mechanism for allocation of coal blocks on the recommendation of a Screening Committee.
Sriprakash Jaiswal said: “It was the coal and lignite-bearing States such as West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan that had opposed auctioning of mines. The Centre cannot take decisions if the States do not agree.”
He reiterated that his Ministry was in the process of finalising the competitive bidding norms for new allocations of 54 mines. The Finance Minister, who heads a Group of Ministers (GoM) panel deliberating on draft Coal Regulator Bill, said the GoM would soon finalise the Draft Coal Regulator Bill and send it to Cabinet for approval.
The CAG, in its report tabled in Parliament on August 16, said that allocation of coal blocks without competitive bidding has “led to financial gains to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to 57 mine owners.” Since then, the Opposition has attacked the Prime Minister, and Parliament proceedings have remained disrupted.
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