The process of bringing in transparency and objectivity in the allocation of coal blocks which commenced from 28 June, 2004 got delayed at various stages and the same is yet to materialise (February 2012) even after a lapse of seven years. …The government could have tapped part of this financial benefit by expediting decision on competitive bidding for allocation of coal blocks.
– CAG Report on Allocation of Coal Blocks & Augmentation of Coal production
As expected, the proceedings in Parliament are halted for obscure reason. The obvious voices are creating ruckus outside Parliament for more palpable reasons. The most surprising part is the usually silent voice in Rajya Sabha made the allegations of ‘organised loot’ and ‘legalised plunder’ of the common people. The problem is not with raising the common man’s concerns; the issue is carrying the moral responsibility to do the same that is also based on Keynesian wisdom.
Even after giving benefit of doubt to the former Prime Minister about his personal integrity, one cannot deny the fact that government under his leadership faced the biggest anti-corruption movement. It was the coal block allocation and 2G spectrum allocation scams that changed the contours of politics. 2G is believed to be the biggest scam involving the process of allocating unified access service licenses to the Telecom Companies involving the estimated losses of Rs 1.76 Lakh Crore. Another feather in the cap was Commonwealth Games Scam which depicts corruption not only economic terms but also credibility terms. The inefficiency shown in allocating the coal blocks is another example of mismanagement by economist.
All this was happening under his nose and he kept quite. It was certainly a monumental management failure of an eminent economist who was a mute spectator of falling weakened the credibility of the nation at international level. By any standard, whether at the level of perception or reality, his indecisiveness in many aspects whether financial or security, that had created mess in the system. One of the key reasons of ‘monumental’ defeat of the Congress was this financial ‘mismanagement’ by an economist at the behest of political bosses.
The former Finance Minister and Prime Minister was also the RBI Governor. Hence, he must be aware of the state of banking sector in Bharat and their growing NPAs. He also was concerned about the lack of financial inclusion. Unfortunately, he could not take any major initiative or show any innovation to mitigate those problems. If he is really concerned about the hardship and distress faced by the common people, he should have come up with constructive suggestions rather than being a typical opposition.
The most unfortunate part is to express his role as an opponent; the pioneer of liberalisation in Bharat has quoted Keynes to justify his argument. That is another reflection of his poor understanding of pulse of Bharat. On the one hand when people are giving overwhelming response to the decision not criticism but constructive suggestion that is the requirement. For Keynes, being a western economist, life is limited. For us individual life may be limited but the
national life is immortal and more important. The hardship faced by common people is everyone’s concern, including that of the government but solution cannot come with foreign theories and perspective. The time is to stand together and make the things work to transform the system.
@PrafullaKetkar
