INDIA: DAYS after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar as the chairman of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) looking into the grant of licences and allocation of spectrum in 2G band, Pawar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today seeking to “recuse” himself.
“Attempts have been made in the past
to unnecessarily drag me in the controversy on 2G spectrum. These allegations
are false and ill-motivated, which I have firmly refuted,” says Pawar in his
letter. “At this juncture, I believe that my association in the decision-making
process as the chairman of EGoM on telecom will motivate vested elements to try
to drag me in the controversy.”
The letter adds: “As such I thought
it will be appropriate for me to recuse myself from the position of chairman of
EGoM.”
While the EGoM was slated to meet
today, the meeting was postponed without citing any reason.
Pawar’s decision comes at a time when the Cabinet is slated to
take a call at its meeting tomorrow on whether telcos are to be charged for the
“extra” spectrum they hold above 4.4 MHz or whether this should be 6.2 MHz.
Alternatively, the Cabinet may also
consider a proposal on whether the government should ask the telecom firms to
pay for all the spectrum they hold based on the auction price, with the
reasoning that all firms will get a level playing field once they have paid for
the spectrum thay have held for 20 years.
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