The direct and grave indictment of the present Union Telecommunications Minister A. Raja by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) points to a staggeringly-high loss of Rs. 1.7 lakh crores to the public exchequer. This revelation comes in the wake of two other shameful scams: the gross irregularities in the Rs. 70,000 crore - Commonwealth Games (CWG) and the shameful Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, the latter being carried out invoking the sacred memory of Kargil martyrs.
This is a serious warning sign on two counts:
1. the sheer scale, scope and magnitude of corruption and the consequent loss of massive amounts to the public exchequer and
2. the involvement of politicians at the country’s highest levels.
Essentially, the CAG concluded that the Union Cabinet Minister for IT and Communications ignored advice from the PM and ministries of law and finance, the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) and allocated 2G spectrum to a select group of other-wise ineligible companies at throwaway prices. The CAG also faulted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for its acts of omission and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for its gross violations of norms.
This is a serious warning sign on two counts:
1. the sheer scale, scope and magnitude of corruption and the consequent loss of massive amounts to the public exchequer and
2. the involvement of politicians at the country’s highest levels.
Essentially, the CAG concluded that the Union Cabinet Minister for IT and Communications ignored advice from the PM and ministries of law and finance, the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) and allocated 2G spectrum to a select group of other-wise ineligible companies at throwaway prices. The CAG also faulted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for its acts of omission and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for its gross violations of norms.
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