Corporate-politician nexus behind coalgate: EAS Sarma

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Hitting out against the irregularities in coal block allocations, former top bureaucrat EAS Sarma blamed politician-corporate nexus for the corrupt practices and suggested the idea of ‘competitive bidding’ to bring transparency in all sectors. Criticising PM Manmohan Singh for empty reform promises he said, “The PM just talks about reforms. There is no reform visible in reality”. He added that there is no change in the allocation of spectrum yet and in any sector for that matter, be it commonwealth, 2G or coalgate. “Commonwealth, 2G spectrum scam, etc, all point to the fact that bureaucrats and politicians were in cahoots with the corporate sector to accrue illegal benefits”. Stressing that an artificial demand was created in every sector be it, steel, power or cement, Sarma said, “there is a need to generate competition but in a transparent manner”. Lashing out at the government clearance of 181 captive coal blocks in a period of 2005-2012, Sarma was of the view that these too must be cancelled just like the 2G spectrum licences were withdrawn. However, Sarma maintained that agencies like the CAG and the CBI must be trusted, so that more scams could be brought to light. He hailed Gandhian Anna Hazare for taking on the government on the issue of corruption and making it a national issue. He also gave thumbs up to India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal for taking on the political class and exposing big guns like BJP pesident Nitin Gadkari.