Along with the Coal scam, the 2G spectrum allocation had put the
government in a tight spot but it is fighting back. First it announced a
slew of "reform" to distract people's attention, it is now trying to
change the composition of the CAG inspite of the constitution not even
envisaging a multi-member body as it had suggested for the Election
Commission. The government has also tried to destroy the credibility of
the CAG since it cannot remove him from service (his process of removal
is same as that of impeachment of a judge of the supreme court) and so
cannot punish or coerce him. A JPC had been convened, but by sheer
strength of numbers, the government has derailing the process and JPC
has done little or no work.
Now, it has brought out a new guy R.P.Singh, retired official to rake up an issue and even he doesn't really know what he is talking about. But by creating a controversy and confusion over the issue, the government can bury it and defend itself. The statements coming through are incoherent (some statements say he is only questioning the notional loss figure, some say the CAG mainpulated the figure, some say he was influenced by Murali Manohar Joshi). Even Sonia Gandhi has made a statement- seems the government is fast when trying to cover up its trail of corruption.
The question is only about the magnitude of the loss and the method of its estimation. There are no doubts about the fact that there was a loss and this is important. The CAG is constitutionally the protector of the public funds and so has to point out even the most minute cases of misuse or loss of funds to the public. CAG report is not a fault finding mission nor is it a fact finding mission alone, it is a report meant to correct previous errors and take adequate action to ensure it is not repeated. It is not the responsibility of the CAG to investigate criminal wrongdoings or corruption and to say the CAG has exceeded his constitutional mandate is tantamount to saying that the use of public money shall not be made public and shall not be scrutinised.
The government is behaving as if the CAG report has only mentioned one thing- there was a loss of 1.76lakh crore. While this forms only a small part of the Chapter 5 of the report dealing with financial impact, the government has highlighted ONLY this part of the report and has been attacking it and is pretending to have destroyed the report's credibility. The media has also given enough attention and airtime for the government's brainless banter. The government has also been mum on the other observations of the report. The report speaks about how advice of Minister of Law and Justice and suggestions of Prime Minister to reconsider pricing was ignored. The report also speaks about issue of licenses to ineligible entities, undue advantage to Swan telecom and non fulfillment of roll out obligations by the new telecom companies (Chapter 4 of the report)
A government that has been reluctant to make any probes into the really serious allegations and obvious cases of its own misconduct, corruption and mistakes is now going to constitute a probe against the CAG. This is blatant misuse of power, arrogance and clear attempt to fool and misguide the people. In spite of all the clear evidence, the government is sticking to one aspect of the report- the notional loss figure presented in the report. Rather than investigating the fact that there was a loss, rather than analysing why the recent round of auctions went awry, rather than cleaning its own house, the government is simply trying to defend itself and throw mud on constitutional authorities that are meant to point out the government's flaws and ensure accountability.
These attempts by the government are a loud declaration that we will not abide by the rules, we are not accountable to anyone and we will do as we please. We will do whatever we can to hold on to power, we will try to fool the people, will never admit our mistakes and will not make any effort to serve the public. We can wake up someone who is sleep, but never wake up someone pretending to be asleep. The government knew what it was doing while throwing away scarce natural resources, we all ought to know why it happened and how it happened too.
But what is beyond doubt is the fact that there was a loss and only the amount of the loss is being questioned. This issue is never highlighted by the parties or by media eager to report on issues (sometimes in a biased manner) and sensationalise them. The loss amount estimate would definitely vary but a 2,700 crore loss estimate is stupid and too low. In the next post, I have explained the CAGs calculation of losses and one glance at it would enable all of us to given an answer to Kapil Sibal's question 'Where is the 1.76lakh crore?'
The details on the CAG report, myths about it, some important info about and government onslaught on the constitutional authority are given in these links-
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/cag-six-answers-to-clear-doubts-and-misperceptions/article2647710.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2568360.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/continuing-onslaught-on-the-cag/article3929560.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3836708.ece?homepage=true
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-government-is-on-the-wrong-wavelength/article4116401.ece?homepage=true
Now, it has brought out a new guy R.P.Singh, retired official to rake up an issue and even he doesn't really know what he is talking about. But by creating a controversy and confusion over the issue, the government can bury it and defend itself. The statements coming through are incoherent (some statements say he is only questioning the notional loss figure, some say the CAG mainpulated the figure, some say he was influenced by Murali Manohar Joshi). Even Sonia Gandhi has made a statement- seems the government is fast when trying to cover up its trail of corruption.
The question is only about the magnitude of the loss and the method of its estimation. There are no doubts about the fact that there was a loss and this is important. The CAG is constitutionally the protector of the public funds and so has to point out even the most minute cases of misuse or loss of funds to the public. CAG report is not a fault finding mission nor is it a fact finding mission alone, it is a report meant to correct previous errors and take adequate action to ensure it is not repeated. It is not the responsibility of the CAG to investigate criminal wrongdoings or corruption and to say the CAG has exceeded his constitutional mandate is tantamount to saying that the use of public money shall not be made public and shall not be scrutinised.
The government is behaving as if the CAG report has only mentioned one thing- there was a loss of 1.76lakh crore. While this forms only a small part of the Chapter 5 of the report dealing with financial impact, the government has highlighted ONLY this part of the report and has been attacking it and is pretending to have destroyed the report's credibility. The media has also given enough attention and airtime for the government's brainless banter. The government has also been mum on the other observations of the report. The report speaks about how advice of Minister of Law and Justice and suggestions of Prime Minister to reconsider pricing was ignored. The report also speaks about issue of licenses to ineligible entities, undue advantage to Swan telecom and non fulfillment of roll out obligations by the new telecom companies (Chapter 4 of the report)
A government that has been reluctant to make any probes into the really serious allegations and obvious cases of its own misconduct, corruption and mistakes is now going to constitute a probe against the CAG. This is blatant misuse of power, arrogance and clear attempt to fool and misguide the people. In spite of all the clear evidence, the government is sticking to one aspect of the report- the notional loss figure presented in the report. Rather than investigating the fact that there was a loss, rather than analysing why the recent round of auctions went awry, rather than cleaning its own house, the government is simply trying to defend itself and throw mud on constitutional authorities that are meant to point out the government's flaws and ensure accountability.
These attempts by the government are a loud declaration that we will not abide by the rules, we are not accountable to anyone and we will do as we please. We will do whatever we can to hold on to power, we will try to fool the people, will never admit our mistakes and will not make any effort to serve the public. We can wake up someone who is sleep, but never wake up someone pretending to be asleep. The government knew what it was doing while throwing away scarce natural resources, we all ought to know why it happened and how it happened too.
But what is beyond doubt is the fact that there was a loss and only the amount of the loss is being questioned. This issue is never highlighted by the parties or by media eager to report on issues (sometimes in a biased manner) and sensationalise them. The loss amount estimate would definitely vary but a 2,700 crore loss estimate is stupid and too low. In the next post, I have explained the CAGs calculation of losses and one glance at it would enable all of us to given an answer to Kapil Sibal's question 'Where is the 1.76lakh crore?'
The details on the CAG report, myths about it, some important info about and government onslaught on the constitutional authority are given in these links-
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/cag-six-answers-to-clear-doubts-and-misperceptions/article2647710.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2568360.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/continuing-onslaught-on-the-cag/article3929560.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3836708.ece?homepage=true
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-government-is-on-the-wrong-wavelength/article4116401.ece?homepage=true
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