THE
COAL SCAM
The report of the Comptroller and
Auditor General of India on allocation of coal blocks and augmentation of coal
production for the year ending March 2012 has come out with startling
revelations.
The report has estimated that the
allocation of coal blocks was not done in a transparent manner and since
July 2004, 142 blocks were allocated to various governments and private
parties. According to the CAG, these allocations lacked transparency and
objectivity.
As a result, the CAG estimates that
the private coal block allottees have made a whopping financial gain to the
tune of Rs. 1.86 lakh crores. A substantial part of this could have
accrued to the national exchequer if the decision taken way back in June
2004 to introduce competitive bidding for such allocations was
implemented. The report notes that till date, the government of India has
not finalized the modus operendi of competitive bidding.
Coal, like all other natural
resources, is a national reserve. Given the fact that many public sector
undertakings and state government undertakings and electricity boards require
coal for generating power for the people and the economy, the allocation of
coal reserves must be done in such a manner as to meet both the need of
the governmental agencies and through a transparent and an objective
competitive bidding. The CPI (M) had suggested that the reserves should
be so proportioned as to meet both these objectives.
Unfortunately, the refusal by the
government of the day to heed this suggestion has led to arbitrariness in coal
allocations, paving the way for large-scale corruption through `sweet
heart' deals. The loss to the national exchequer is, thus, larger than
the presumptive loss estimated by the CAG in the 2G spectrum scam.
Prime Minister who held the charge of the Coal Ministry for
some time when such allocations were made must answer to the Parliament and the
nation why the modus operendi for transparent allocations was not
worked out. All those guilty of siphoning off huge resources must be identified
and brought to book. Strict monitoring and guidelines for the future must
be announced with Parliament's approval.
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