Saturday, November 20, 2010

Blame the process not Raja - LiC

Hat tip to reader Balaji for pointing this out.
If you read any cHindu article or editorial you will find some editorializing going on. Even if say a dog bit a old woman Bangalore, cHindu would probably tie it to the BJP government's lack of social responsibility. However in the case of what appears to be one of the biggest scandals in Indian Parliament history cHindu has staunchly supported the DMK and A.Raja ('A' standing for acidic, acerbic?)
Now LiC from his perch in Anna Salai comes out and blames the process of allotting the spectrum as the culprit and not any one individual. Its a bit like blaming the German judicial system for the Holocaust and not Hitler. Or Indian Army for losing the Indo-Chinese war of 1962 and not Nehru. It sets a wrong precedent
of future allotment of blame in such scandals.
The integrity of the process always determines the quality of the product that comes out of it. If a process is wrong, the product seldom turns out right. It is now a common conclusion that the procedure for the allocation of spectrum in 2007-08 for the second generation (2G) telecom services was flawed, and grossly so. When there were many more aspirants for the licences than there was frequency spectrum, and an auction should have been the obvious method to decide on the winners, the licences were handed out instead in a non-transparent, first-come-first-served basis and at a low price set seven years earlier.

Hindsight is indeed 20-20. Where is the issue of incompetence of A.Raja and his steadfast refusal to resign?
Or for that matter the kickbacks he received?
The Manmohan Singh government has no option but to take serious note of the glaring non-performance by these companies. Perhaps it was inevitable they would fail, because as the CAG discovered, many of these companies did not have any experience in telecommunications. Revoking their licences would therefore be a rational and appropriate response.

If this is a cover-up article aimed at fooling the reading public of cHindu, then LiC better start packing his desk.

7 comments:

Hindu Fundamentalist said...

it is obvious that n.ram is trying to avoid blaming a.raja for the crime although he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. as you have pointed out, bjp gets the blame in karnataka, modi gets the blame for all ills in gujarat. but surprisingly, a.raja is absolved. and manmohan singh and sonia gandhi get credit for all the good things with never a finger pointed at them. secular justice.
while the rest of the media is buzzing about nira radia story, there is no mention of it on chindu.

Xinhua Ram said...

Claude Arpi: Tibet isn't Kashmir. Unlike J&K, Tibet has no autonomy.

Suppose tomorrow New Delhi tells Beijing, “If you must club Jammu & Kashmir with Tibet, why don’t you have something like ‘Article 370’ for Tibet and all the Tibetan-inhabited areas? It will be to your benefit, the Tibetan issue will be settled, and after a ‘larger autonomy’ is granted to Tibet, one can certainly find an arrangement to sort out the India-Tibet border issue.”

kuttychathan said...

DD...Surprisingly, Chindu's sister Business Line has a different view.

In the editorial, 'Spectrum's Victim', (Nov.16), it says..
"....too many international leaders who visit India have been complaining about corruption and Mr Raja's acts of omission and commission were simply too blatant to ignore any longer."

"Mr Raja's strange interpretation of the 1999 National Telecom Policy was directly responsible for this fiasco."

(http://www.blonnet.com/2010/11/16/stories/2010111650341000.htm)

The editorial on Nov.18 (More teeth for the GAG) says,

"The CAG has put the loss to the national exchequer as a result of Mr A Raja's actions at around Rs 1.76 lakh crore,(....) That a single minister, acting alone and against all advice, including that of the Prime Minister, could have caused such loss also speaks volumes about the ‘accommodative' nature of coalition politics."

(http://www.blonnet.com/2010/11/18/stories/2010111850180800.htm)

Hindu Fundamentalist said...

kuttychathan,
another great find. it is incredible that when the whole world acknowledges a.raja's hand in the scandal, n.ram is trying to obfuscate truth. even chindu's sister publication can't but help call raja the culprit.

kuttychathan said...

HF...What is more amusing is that Ram is Editor-in-Chief of both 'The Hindu' ,and 'Business Line'.

kuttychathan said...

The chindu is keeping silence on Neera Radia tapes. But, that is predictable when Barkha Bitch of comrade Roy's channel stands with egg on her face. Remember, who has been crying hoarse on paid news until last week?

Dirt Digger said...

kuttychathan,
see the latest posts on how having friends in the media helps cover up scandals.