New Delhi, February 24 (PTI): Sharing concerns of all sections over scams including those involving 2G spectrum and CWG, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday asserted in Parliament that his government would do everything to clean the “public life” and ensure that “no wrong-doer” goes unpunished. He referred to the decision to form JPC into 2G scam and the probe being undertaken by the CBI in various corruption cases and said his government would “fully cooperate” with all the agencies “so that the truth comes out”.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Dr. Singh also said everything would be done to bring back black money stashed abroad as “we are one with Opposition” on the issue.
Black money
Underlining that the problem of black money had not occurred only four to five years back but was older than that, he said the government was ready to “sit” with all parties to discuss how to deal with it and “all constructive suggestions” would be considered. After Dr. Singh’s reply, the Motion was adopted by voice vote. The Prime Minister responded point-by-point to various issues raised by members concerning corruption, inflation, internal security and foreign policy. Referring to the scams that were highlighted by members, Dr. Singh said, “I don’t deny that unfortunate developments have taken place in the areas of telecom and Commonwealth Games.”
He said these concerns are being addressed and whenever “credible and actionable evidence” is being found, action is taken. In this regard, he pointed out that Chief Ministers and Union Ministers have resigned after allegations were levelled against them and the CBI is on the trail of the scams. “I assure this House that there is nothing that we will not do in order to clean our public life,” Dr. Singh asserted. Talking about the controversial 2G spectrum allocation, he said, “If there is a scam, it must be dealt with. Law of the land will punish the wrong doers.” At the same time, he said, “We must not overlook the fact that there is tremendous growth in the telecom sector which has taken place.”
He defended the telecom policy, which was pursued since 1999, saying it had paid “rich dividends” and said the fault lay with the implementation. With regard to the CWG, he said the Games were very successful despite doubts that were expressed earlier. “There were complaints of wrong-doings even before the Games and from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I had promised that if a wrong thing has been done, we will investigate the matter. If found guilty, no one will be spared,” he said. “No wrong-doer can escape punishment,” Dr. Singh said, noting a high-powered committee was looking into the issue.
No escape for wrong-doers
“In all these matters, I think, it is our bounden duty and my promise to this House that we will not flinch from ensuring that no wrong-doer escapes the penalties that our legal system provides,” the Prime Minister said. Referring to the controversial deal between Antrix, commercial arm of ISRO and private company Devas for S-band spectrum allocation, Dr. Singh said it was never implemented as the necessary clearances were not given.
“Antrix needed government approvals for operationalising the contract (with private company Devas). These were not given. In particular, the operating licences and the regulatory approvals from various ministries were also not given and hence the contract did not become operational,” he said. He said the government had taken a policy decision that in the light of the country’s strategic requirement, it will not provide orbit slot in S—band to Antrix for commercial activities “including for those which are the subject matter of existing contractual obligation for S-band.” Dr. Singh asserted that no allocation for terrestrial spectrum had been made by the government to either Antrix or Devas and therefore, the figures of costing of lakhs of rupees have “no basis“.
The decision to open satellite services to non-government parties, Indians and foreign, was taken and approved by the then government in 1997, he said, pointing out that “this was not the Congress government.” He also sought to corner the BJP, saying the norms, guidelines and procedures to operationalise the policy including the modalities for pricing of lease of transponder were approved in 2000 under the NDA regime. Dr. Singh noted that his government had set up a high-powered committee this month to review the technical, commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the Antrix-Devas agreement. It will suggest corrective measures, to fix responsibility for lapses, if any and to review the adequacy of procedures and approvals processes followed by Antrix, ISRO and Department of Space and suggest improvements, he said.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Dr. Singh also said everything would be done to bring back black money stashed abroad as “we are one with Opposition” on the issue.
Black money
Underlining that the problem of black money had not occurred only four to five years back but was older than that, he said the government was ready to “sit” with all parties to discuss how to deal with it and “all constructive suggestions” would be considered. After Dr. Singh’s reply, the Motion was adopted by voice vote. The Prime Minister responded point-by-point to various issues raised by members concerning corruption, inflation, internal security and foreign policy. Referring to the scams that were highlighted by members, Dr. Singh said, “I don’t deny that unfortunate developments have taken place in the areas of telecom and Commonwealth Games.”
He said these concerns are being addressed and whenever “credible and actionable evidence” is being found, action is taken. In this regard, he pointed out that Chief Ministers and Union Ministers have resigned after allegations were levelled against them and the CBI is on the trail of the scams. “I assure this House that there is nothing that we will not do in order to clean our public life,” Dr. Singh asserted. Talking about the controversial 2G spectrum allocation, he said, “If there is a scam, it must be dealt with. Law of the land will punish the wrong doers.” At the same time, he said, “We must not overlook the fact that there is tremendous growth in the telecom sector which has taken place.”
He defended the telecom policy, which was pursued since 1999, saying it had paid “rich dividends” and said the fault lay with the implementation. With regard to the CWG, he said the Games were very successful despite doubts that were expressed earlier. “There were complaints of wrong-doings even before the Games and from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I had promised that if a wrong thing has been done, we will investigate the matter. If found guilty, no one will be spared,” he said. “No wrong-doer can escape punishment,” Dr. Singh said, noting a high-powered committee was looking into the issue.
No escape for wrong-doers
“In all these matters, I think, it is our bounden duty and my promise to this House that we will not flinch from ensuring that no wrong-doer escapes the penalties that our legal system provides,” the Prime Minister said. Referring to the controversial deal between Antrix, commercial arm of ISRO and private company Devas for S-band spectrum allocation, Dr. Singh said it was never implemented as the necessary clearances were not given.
“Antrix needed government approvals for operationalising the contract (with private company Devas). These were not given. In particular, the operating licences and the regulatory approvals from various ministries were also not given and hence the contract did not become operational,” he said. He said the government had taken a policy decision that in the light of the country’s strategic requirement, it will not provide orbit slot in S—band to Antrix for commercial activities “including for those which are the subject matter of existing contractual obligation for S-band.” Dr. Singh asserted that no allocation for terrestrial spectrum had been made by the government to either Antrix or Devas and therefore, the figures of costing of lakhs of rupees have “no basis“.
The decision to open satellite services to non-government parties, Indians and foreign, was taken and approved by the then government in 1997, he said, pointing out that “this was not the Congress government.” He also sought to corner the BJP, saying the norms, guidelines and procedures to operationalise the policy including the modalities for pricing of lease of transponder were approved in 2000 under the NDA regime. Dr. Singh noted that his government had set up a high-powered committee this month to review the technical, commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the Antrix-Devas agreement. It will suggest corrective measures, to fix responsibility for lapses, if any and to review the adequacy of procedures and approvals processes followed by Antrix, ISRO and Department of Space and suggest improvements, he said.
