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‘PM’s inaction led to Coal scam’
Prime Minister\'s Inaction Led to Coal Scam. Former Coal Secretary P C Parakh on Monday claimed that the multi-crore coal block allocation scam could have been avoided if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asserted in pushing reforms including open bidding of coal blocks.
- Explosive remarks by former Coal Secretary P C Parakh
- PM okayed reforms, but could not push through them
- He couldn’t control vested interests including ministers
- CAG had put notional cost of the scam at Rs 1,86,000 cr
CBI said there was a conspiracy, I am not saying there was a conspiracy, but if CBI thought there was a conspiracy then conspiracy has to be between people who take decisions. So you had Prime Minister who has finally taken the decision. So, if I am a part of conspiracy he (PM) has to be a part of the conspiracy - P C Parakh, Ex-Coal Secretary
New Delhi: Former Coal Secretary P C Parakh on Monday claimed that the multi-crore coal block allocation scam could have been avoided if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asserted in pushing reforms including open bidding of coal blocks.
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"Yes, if the Prime Minister had used his authority behind the reforms proposal it (scam) could have (been avoided)," Parakh told reporters after release of his book "Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths."
The Coalgate scandal erupted in 2012 after the national auditor questioned the government's allocating coal blocks without auction which, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said, had brought windfall profits to certain companies and cost the exchequer a notional loss of Rs 1,86,000 crore.
The charges come barely a couple of days after some explosive remarks on similar lines in another book by the Prime Minister's former advisor Sanjaya Baru in which he said that even though Manmohan Singh was incorruptible, the actions of his cabinet colleagues were not only questionable but also that little action was taken to prevent them due to the power on such matters allegedly exercised by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Parakh, who has been accused in one of the FIRs by the CBI probing Colagate, was responding to questions from reporters whether the scam could have been avoided if reforms had been pushed through by the government.
Auction of coal blocks in open market and e-marketing of coal, as proposed, would have ensured that there was no scam. "In all fairness, the PM approved the auction of blocks which I myself had suggested, but he did little to implement and make it actionable," Parakh said.
"Unfortunately, the PM couldn't control the ministers," Parakh said of ex-ministers Shibu Soren and Dasari Narayan Rao, who, according to the former bureaucrat, were opposed to putting up coal blocks for auction. "In all fairness, the PM approved the auction of blocks which I myself had suggested, but he did little to implement and make it actionable," added Parakh, who faces a probe into the allocations.Asked about the FIR against him in connection with allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odhisa, Parakh said "CBI said there was a conspiracy, I am not saying there was a conspiracy, but if CBI thought there was a conspiracy then conspiracy has to be between people who take decisions. So you had Prime Minister who has finally taken the decision. So, if I am a part of conspiracy he (PM) has to be a part of the conspiracy," he said.Parakh was named in an FIR by the CBI with Kumarmanglam Birla for allegedly entering into a conspiracy to get the coal block allocation in favour of Hindalco. On undermining the authority of the Prime Minister, Parakh said besides ministers including Shibu Soren and D S Rao, MPs cutting across the party lines were responsible for scuttling the reforms in the coal ministry.
68-year-old Parakh, who retired from the service in December 2005, however, also said whatever forward movement was achieved by him during his stint as Coal Secretary was only when the Prime Minister was the in-charge of the ministry.
"When I was in Coal ministry, Prime Minister gave me full support. Whatever changes had come in the Coal ministry it is because of Prime Minister. He also supported reforms in the Coal ministry. We were able to get a lot of work done because of proactive role of Manmohan Singh," he said.
The book, released by retired Supreme Court judge G S Singhvi and former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian, was in the making for last two-three years and has nothing to do with the timing of Lok Sabha polls, he said."I have been writing the book for last two-three years. But after the CAG report and CBI probe, I have just added one chapter to it," Parakh said.
