Indian Coal Mining Controversy which is also known as Coalgate Scandal. Coal mining controversy is a political controversy highlighting the nation’s irregularities in the matter of handling national coal deposits.
Bharatiya Janata Party, the strongest party in the opposition has also alleged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as being involved in the scandal and wants him to resign. Receiving massive media attention, the coal mining controversy is one of the biggest scams that ever hit India.
It has been stated that the government of India’s allocation of the coal deposits between the public sector entities and the private companies is not justified during the period from 2004 to 2009. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has accused the government in power of a scandal of Rs. 1,067,303 Crores as a result of improper allocation of coal deposits between the two major sectors; public and private.
Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh while addressing the Parliament on 27th August 2012 rebutted that the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report stating that it’s allegation on the government and it’s reading of law is completely false.
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The deadlock resulting from the scandal has led to constant debates between the ruling party, the Congress and the party in opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party as a result of which the Parliament has functioned only seven times in the month of August instead of the usual twenty days in the session.
As a result of the September 2012 hearing in the Supreme Court of India, has ordered the government in power, the Congress to state the reasons for not following the 2004 policy of competitive bidding for coal block allocation. The companies who have breached the allegations and the steps which have not been followed are being taken into consideration by the Supreme Court of India.
The strongest party in the opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that the ruling party in India, the Indian National Congress has allocated as many as 142 coal blocks to private entrepreneur’s most of who were not even actual users and traders. The government is alleged of not following the competitive bidding policy in 2004 so that the 142 bidders were selected on an arbitrary basis.
Congress, the party in power on the other hand states that all these allocations are completely false and have stated in defense that “the loss can arise only if one ton of coal is taken out of mother earth and sold at some unacceptable price”. The critics and the party in opposition on the other hand have stated that all these statements are baseless. Whatever be the truth a controversy like this is a matter of shame for the country as a whole.