A CRY FOR THEE, MY MOTHERLAND..........

I had posted earlier on how businessmen make direct connect with politicians and government by becoming Member of Parliament (MP) through the Rajya Sabha route. By doing so, they cut down the middlemen who used to operate in the scene earlier. After becoming the MP and after getting directly connected to the powers that be, how grossly they misuse their position as the Member of Parliament, to take care of their selfishness and greed. The 2G Spectrum scam is a great example, for you all to know.

A Raja, the minister of telecommunication, totally submitted himself to these men of greed and flouted all rules of the country and evaded the best advice, even coming from his Prime Minister, to blatantly accommodate these businessmen.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had now spilled the beans to show us the citizens, the extent of loss to the country’s exchequer. It could be anywhere between INR 60,000 Crores and 1,77,000 Crores, whopping figures indeed! The opposition touts this as the largest bribery scam of independent India.

The CAG cites that the biggest beneficiary of the scam is Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), headed by Anil Ambani, the second son of Dhirubhai Ambani, who himself had been a master manipulator of the government and its machinery, in his times. Like father, like son. Anil Bhai has to prove his lineage. So he found routes that are direct. He manipulated politicians to get himself nominated to the Rajyasabha so that he could be the closest to the power centres directly, so that he is preview to the country’s planning process at the drawing board level, to identify projects and schemes that are related to the industry that he is part of, well in advance. Dhirubhai must be smiling in his grave as his son outdid him. What more reason is needed for a dad to be proud of his children?

Most of the leading players in Telecom sector benefited with the help of minister Raja, the crook of a number one order. The majority of the bidders whose applications had been passed, did not have any experience or qualification to bid. Most of them were real estate companies. The story of Swan telecom using which ADAG manipulated the spectrum allocation in its favour and the way in which it got licence for combined dual technology (CDMA & GSM) operation well before government policy on it was framed, puts India to shame. Such was the blatant disregard this minister had shown to the rules and regulations of the country. Most of the bidders got the sanction at throwaway prices. Later, they all sold off this license to international companies at huge margins. There has been a flurry of collaborations, tie-ups and M&As in the Telecom Sector, post the allocation. This allowed Telenor, Etisalat, MTN etc. come to India. While the competitive scenario hotted up, the Country became pauper by lakhs of crores of Rupees!

One group that really lost out on the deal was the TATAs. Any company doing business by adhering to ethics and value system at this point in time is only expected to lose out and that is what happened to the TATAs. It is another matter that the group would make it out over a period of time. But on comparative note, it is indeed sad to see the leading business group of the country that had played immense role in the development of independent India , getting completely sidelined.

As a citizen of India, I feel distressed at the way in which things are happening in our country. Everyday we wake up to hear one scam or the other. The country is rocked by the CWG scam, the Adarsh Housing scam, The DoT scam, the Yediyurappa land gab scam and the like.

What is the point in saying that we have a clean Prime Minister? Right under his nose, look at the level of indulgences that are happening on a day to day scale! He is not able to take action on any of the perpetrators. They resign from the post for the time being only to surface again later. No one gets prosecuted for the heinous crime that they do against the nation.

All these talks of inclusivity will come into effect only when India becomes a clean nation. Looking at the way by which things are going on, I have my doubt that inclusivity is not going to be anywhere near.

However, let us keep hoping.