People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXIV
No.
50 December 12, 2010 |
PM’s Office
Silent on WiMax Franchise Issue
Prasanta
Chatterjee
ANYONE, who
is interested
in the mystery of WiMax franchise, may go through the website of
Starnet
Communications. On their website, the Starnet Communications say that
“Starnet
Communications Pvt Ltd, formerly known as AMPOULES & AUTO PVT LTD
established since 1958 at Kolkata, West Bengal, India to provide
project
consultancy for the emerging auto industry.”
In reply to
an Unstarred
Question No 1558 dated March 11, 2010, the minister of state in the
ministry of
communication and information technology informed Rajya Sabha that “The government has short-listed four
companies to fight
for state-run telecom giant BSNL's franchisees on it latest WiMax. The
four
short-listed companies are Teracom, Take Solutions, Adishwar
Interestingly,
M/s Starnet’s
name was nowhere there in the bidding process.
On November
26, 2009,
Ampoules & Auto Pvt. Ltd declared that “Ampoules & Auto Pvt Ltd
is glad
to inform that it has participated successfully in the BSNL WiMax
tender bid
dated November 25, 2009 in Chennai.”
On November
30, 2009,
Ampoules & Auto Pvt Ltd declared that “Ampoules & Auto Pvt Ltd
would
like to inform that” the company’s name had been changed and that it is
now
known as Starnet Communications Pvt Ltd.
The question
is: Was M/s
Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd eligible for short-listing?
At the
outset, one feels
puzzled to note that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
short-listed a
company for WiMax franchise who would be providing project consultancy
for the
emerging auto industry during the bidding process.
Clause 1.1 of
the tender number
CGMP/CHI/EOI-WiMAX(e)Tender.2009-10/1 dated June 4, 2009, stipulated
thus
stipulated the condition: “Original Equipment Manufacturer / System
Integrator
having a turnover of at least 100 crore for the last two financial
years and
meeting other eligibility conditions as stipulated in EOI document are
eligible
for biding.”
So, in the
very first
instance, Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd should have beenn declared
disqualified for
bidding since the company was not an “Original Equipment Manufacturer /
System
Integrator” at the time of bidding.
Again, from
the copies of
the annual returns submitted by Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd, it
transpires that the
company did not have a turnover of 100 crore during any of the last two
financial years.
Inspite of
these hard facts,
M/s Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd was short-listed for WiMax franchise.
Out of
curiosity, an
enquiry was made at 114A, Madan Mohan Burman Street, Kolkata 700 007,
the
office address given for M/s Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd. Strangely, the
people
living at the given address had never heard of any such company at the
aforesaid address.
On August 30,
2010,
several members of parliament including myself wrote to the prime
minister to
demand an enquiry. The letter was followed by another two letters to
the prime
minister on October 22, 2010 and November 30, 2010. Only the first two
letters
were acknowledged by the prime minister. So far, no enquiry has been
ordered.
Now, a print
media report
says that an enquiry is being conducted by the chief vigilance
commissioner (CVC)
into the matter of WiMax franchise.
The logical
conclusion is
this.
If the said
media report is
true, this involves something unethical since the present CVC was
secretary of
the DoT during the period when the WiMax franchise was decided and, as
such,
the question of a conflict of interests come in the way.
The entire
opposition in
both the houses of parliament is today demanding the constitution of a
joint
parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe into the 2G and 3G spectrum
scams. Now, this
is an added issue that needs to be enquired.
Since the
very functioning
of the DoT during the period of A K Raja is under clout while Raja is
constantly defending himself, stating that what had been done was in
the
knowledge of the prime minister’s office (PMO). The matter needs to be
examined
by a JPC only, as the public accounts committee (PAC) can examine the
case only
on the basis of the comptroller and auditor general’s report on 2G
spectrum
allocation but the case of WiMax franchise was beyond the scope of the
CAG.
Will the
government show
enough courage to constitute a joint parliamentary committee?