Sibal moots JPC on Parl stalling by oppn -Governance Now

Sibal moots JPC on Parl stalling by oppn

He said loss due to stalling of Parliament is around Rs. 7,00,000

Trithesh Nandan | December 9, 2010

The government on Thursday turned the heat on the NDA and other parties by mooting a JPC on Parliament stalling by the opposition over their demand for a JPC to probe the 2G scam.

“Look at the scam that has been caused due to obstruction of the Parliament, it would have cost the country this is around Rs. 70,000 crore. May be we should have JPC on that," telecom minister Kapil Sibal told reporters at the sidelines of India Telecom summit 2010 on Thursday.

“Remember there are such important legislations waiting to be passed in this country which are going to impact the common man. The opposition parties are not concerned about that.”

Taking a dig at the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for stalling parliament for the 20 successive days on the JPC demand, the telecom minister told, “They are looking at the general elections in 2014. They are not concerned about the telecom sector. For them obstruction of democracy is the mantra.”

The government has ruled out any JPC probe on the telecom scam. Instead, the government is advocating a debate in the house on telecom scam.

In fact, PRS Legislative Research, a Delhi-based think-tank has said the record of the current session of Parliament is the worst in 25 years. “Thus far, Lok Sabha has worked only for 6 percent of the scheduled hours,” C.V. Madhukar, director of PRS Legislative research wrote in the Indian Express.

Many bills in Parliament were passed without any discussion. Madhukar mentioned, “In this session, the Supplementary Demands for Grants were passed without discussion. This hurried passing of legislation and demands for grants can have serious policy costs which are far in excess of the cost of running of Parliament.”

The telecom minister also said telecom sector should not be viewed as a source of revenue. “If we look telecom sector in this way of revenue generating sector, we would be giving gross injustice to them,” Sibal said.

However, he also promised a level playing field for all telecom operators.

Comments

Other News

India reaffirms commitment to climate multilateralism

India has reaffirmed its commitment to climate multilateralism and the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), calling for a fair, equitable and ambitious outcome at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framewo

How the mind can help the body heal itself

Why do some people recover from illness against all odds? Can our beliefs, emotions and consciousness influence the body’s ability to heal? Drawing on over three decades of experience in medicine, research and medical innovation, internationally trained ophthalmologist and author Dr Dinesh Verma ex

1,364 anti-cancer formulations to cost less from today

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, has capped trade margins on the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of 137 anti-cancer drugs. This was based on the recommendations of an Expert Committee constitute

Who checks the books?

I read about the news about the Coimbatore library over coffee this morning. On the face of it, the headline was about a political ‘war’ between the DMK and TVK. But what stayed with me was something much more important than the blame game behind what had transpired. A writer walking through

Development paradox: Falling poverty miracle and an inequality problem

India’s reduction in poverty over the past decade is a development achievement of considerable significance. The World Bank’s April 2026 ‘India Development Update’ estimates that the share of Indians living below the international extreme-poverty line of $3.00 per person per day i

In Arunachal, a river we call mother

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Siang is not just a river. For many of us, especially the Adi people, it is part of our family. Our grandparents fished in it. Children learned to swim in it. Our farms drink from it. When someone says a huge dam will be built on it, we do not hear the word "project".