The announcement on Monday by telecom minister Kapil Sibal about action being initiated against companies that obtained 2G spectrum licences in an irregular manner will be greeted with relief. Corruption permeates this sector. Even under earlier regimes, malfeasance on the part of leading figures in government, as well as
corporate competitors, often characterised policy implementation even when an individual minister was above board, which appeared only too rarely to be the case. In the present instance, whether the licences of the bulk of the beneficiaries who were given licences in breach of the eligibility criteria under the regime of former telecom minister A. Raja will be cancelled, and whether those who failed to fulfil their obligations after getting licences will have to pay heavy penalties will be watched with interest within industry circles as well as outside. The implications of each are different and varied. However, companies that bagged licences but have merely parked these with a view to their eventual sale for exorbitant profits, and those that simply do not possess the required expertise and know-how (they had been granted licences without their credentials being examined), can be sent packing. Telecom and mobile phone penetration in the country is not likely to be adversely impacted. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government found themselves in a political tangle on account of the largesse extended to such entities under Mr Raja’s dispensation. In the event, severing the government’s links with cronies of the former telecom minister may turn out to be the first clear politico-administrative step that will shore up confidence in the system.
Even after the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report indicted the then telecom minister and the companies associated with the 2G affair, the government conveyed the impression of reluctance to take action on the ground that the CAG report was only an observation, that it pointed to “presumptive” losses, and that it was yet to be examined by the Public Accounts Committee, Parliament’s most powerful committee that looks at government finances. It is to be hoped that action initiated under Mr Sibal ends the earlier phase of vacillation in government, presumably on account of fears of displeasing an important coalition ally, or unsettling the market for telecom products, or causing inconvenience to users of mobile telephony. The minister has moved with dispatch. Issuing showcause notices to the 85 companies under the scanner can be the beginning of a serious move to recover the money the exchequer was deprived of under the earlier regime in telecom. Mr Sibal could well find himself in the happy position of being able to auction the licences that were earlier given away to cronies for a consideration, and quite possibly net over `1,00,000 crore for the government in the process. At a later date the minister might also see it fit to look at the 22 licences given out in 2006 during the term of Dayanidhi Maran as telecom minister, but were not given spectrum.
While steps appear to be underway to reach higher ground and to bring back national confidence to the system as a whole, it is a great pity that there are said to be elements at the level of the Union Cabinet among coalition partners of the Congress that argue, in effect, for not moving against the corrupt. Their stated apprehension is that this will unduly upset India Inc., and that the latter might transfer its affections away from the government to the Opposition. Such elements need to be firmly told that no one can be permitted to play with the integrity of public finances. The notion of keeping the big moneybags on one’s side by allowing them to break the law is quite simply preposterous and cannot be entertained.