5th_APRIL 1ST_2015

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES
blocks. It also chose the e-auction
mode in order to ensure transpar-
ency. The estimated revenue from
33 blocks is Rs2.09 lakh crore and
the Union Government has already
announced that the auction proceeds
will be transferred to the
respective State Governments. The
biggest beneficiaries of this bonanza
will be the eastern States of Odisha,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West
Bengal, and Maharastra. The Centre
has also announced that in addition,
electricity consumers in these States
will get an additional tariff benefit of
Rs97,000 crore through the process
of reverse auction of coal blocks.
This will certainly offer a major
boost to the idea of cooperative
federalism that Mr Narendra Modi
has been talking about ever since he
became the Prime Minister.
sions, the UPA regime resorted to
the old tactic of shooting the messenger
— by hurling accusations at
the CAG. One leader even accused
the person heading the organisation
of harbouring political ambitions.
But the Government could not shut
out debate on the issue by bamboozling
the CAG. Soon a public interest
litigation was filed in the Supreme
Court seeking an independent
probe into 'Coalgate'. The court
directed the Central Bureau of
Investigation to begin a probe and
report directly to it.
The central point of investigation of
Coalgate by the CBI was, just as in
the case of the auditors, the absence
of a transparent and objective
method to allocate coal blocks to
private players. When the CBI
began virtually singing the CAG's
tune, the UPA Government panicked
and made a brazen attempt to
doctor the agency's report to the
court via worthies holding the
offices of Law Minister and Attorney
General, and through some officials
in the Prime Minister's Office and
the Coal Ministry. They were soon
caught out and the Law Minister lost
his job.
Following the Supreme Court
judgement cancelling 204 allocations,
the National Democratic
Alliance Government brought in an
ordinance to re-allocate these coal
Buoyed by the success of these
auctions, Mr Modi has said that this
only shows, if the Government runs
on policies and governs efficiently,
the system can be rid of corruption.
Can there be a better case study for
those researching the ill-effects of
corruption?
(A. Surya Prakash is a senior journalist
and chairperson of PrasarBharati).
Courtesy: The Pioneer , 17 March 2015
THE
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