LD PM 2

On the 2G scam over which his government has come under a
lot of attack, the Prime Minister said the controversial
decision to allocate licenses on first-come first-serve basis
was exclusively dealt with by the Telecom Ministry and the
matter were "never referred to me or the Cabinet".
"It was the exclusive decision of the Telecom Ministry.
Therefore, I did not think I should intervene," he said.
Singh said he had conveyed to Raja, in a letter in
November 2007, concerns with regard to 2G spectrum allocation
and he had assured him that everything was being done in a
transparent manner.
The Prime Minister said he did not press the matter
further after the Ministries of Finance and Telecom agreed on
the mode of issuing licenses, supported by TRAI and Telecom
Commission.
Asked why Raja was re-inducted in the Cabinet in 2009
despite complaints against him, Singh said in a coalition, it
was not in his hands as to who should be inducted from a
coalition partner.
"I cannot divulge what happened during Cabinet formation.
We are a coalition government. In a coalition, we can suggest
our preferences but you have to go by what the leader of the
coalition party insists on who should be in the government,"
he said.
"Raja and (Dayanidhi) Maran were the choice of DMK and at
that moment, I had no reason to feel that anything seriously
wrong has been done. I did not feel that I had the authority
to object to Raja's entry although complaints were coming from
some companies who were not benefited and some who had not
benefited adequately.
"I was not in a position to make up by mind that
something seriously was wrong that Raja was doing at that
time," Singh said. (MORE) PTI