The biggest scam

Paralysing the government.

The Opposition has stalled Parliament now for almost three weeks demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the telecom scam.

This paralysis of India's legislature is a bigger scam than anything else.

Vital laws that the country needs are being thwarted by the nonfunctioning of Parliament.

These range from a new Company Law, a new law on mining and another to align the accounting system with international practice, to a law to prevent torture. This is most irresponsible.

There is no logical basis for preferring a JPC to probe arbitrary allocation of telecom licences over the Public Accounts Committee which would, in any case, take up for detailed consideration the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General that brought out the scam.

The PAC is headed by a senior Opposition leader, includes members from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and has representatives of all the major parties.

If there is anything that the CAG has overlooked and can be brought to light by a parliamentary committee, the PAC is perfectly capable of doing it.

Yet, if the Opposition insists on a JPC, it is to play politics.

Stalling Parliament to play politics is irresponsible behaviour and simply not acceptable.

The government, on its part, has the responsibility to not let the turmoil in Parliament paralyse the administration as well.

All government committees and groups of ministers must function as planned.

The Prime Minister must proceed with his planned Cabinet reshuffle, reallocate ministerial burdens to manageable levels and take command of the administration.

Vital decisions that require only executive resolve, such as to deregulate the price of diesel, are held up.

India wants to encourage foreign direct investment over portfolio inflows, but the government fails to say either yes or no on the Cairn-Vedanta deal for no tangible reason, sending foreign investors all the wrong signals.

The Sebi chairman expresses himself in favour of the Jalan committee report, even before the time for public comment on the report is over, in presumptive dismissal of dissenting views before they are even heard .

We need governance, not dither and anarchy.