New Delhi:
The coal scandal has dominated this session of Parliament - not through discussion or debate, but by becoming the point of paralysis that has led to virtually no business being transacted in either House. Disruptions by the BJP continued today and resulted in both houses of Parliament being adjourned for the day. The Monsoon Session concludes on Saturday.
The coal controversy and the Opposition's unbending demand for the PM's resignation are birthed by a report by the national auditor (CAG) who said that private firms gained upto Rs 1.86 lakh crore because they were given coal blocks at under-valued rates, instead of bidding through them via an auction. The BJP says that since the PM was Coal Minister during most of these sales, he must quit. Late last week, it appeared to have offered the government the glimmer of a compromise - senior BJP leaders said they would agree to a discussion in Parliament if the coal licenses given to companies during 2004 and 2009 were cancelled, and a judicial inquiry dissects how companies were picked for coal fields.
The government is wary of giving into those demands, voiced first by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj when Congress president Sonia Gandhi phoned her last week in an attempt to end the impasse. By cancelling all licenses, the government believes it could be perceived as accepting the allegations made by the CAG report, and therefore indirectly admitting guilt.
Instead, the Prime Minister's Office has urged the Coal Ministry to initiate urgent action by cancelling the licences of firms who have not made any progress in mining coal from the blocks they were given. By de-allocating licenses for under-performance, the government hopes to prove that it is determined to correct any loopholes in its coal policy. But it is keen to signal that any problem areas lie in under-performance by private and state-run firms, and not in the way that these assignees were selected, because that could be incriminating of its own actions.
An inter-ministerial group that has representatives from different ministries will review 60 coal blocks for de-allocation. 58 companies, who were given these blocks, were sent showcause notices in April for unsatisfactory progress. The firms' replies have been studied by the inter-ministerial group, which is likely to recommend that their licenses be revoked.
The same committee has also been asked to now study another 30 coal blocks for similar reasons.
The Government has ruled out cancellation of any coal block allocation till the inter-ministerial group (IMG), which met today, submits its report. "We have constituted the IMG, which is reviewing 58 coal blocks. It has been asked to submit its report in a time-bound manner and latest by September 15. After that we will decide," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi.