PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2012 ID-6542
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.
.
23-31 March: Sbahadat Saptaah .
BhagatSingh toCom.Chandrashekhar.the Legacy LivesOn.... .
.
s.pea kers .
Public Meetinned..
. .
Whether it is the. 1.76 lakh crore (2G) or Rs 10.7 lakh crore in the coal scam. the CAG has pointed out absence of .
transparent auctions as the reason for massive losses. The issue however Is m_uch deeper. The larger question is. can we arrest all "losses to the state exchequer" merely by auctioning off resources to the highest bidder? Can it be ill the national interest to let private players use up and indiscriminately exhaust .these precious resources as per their whims and fancies merely for private profits, robbing future generations of Indian peopl~ of these resources? Even if a resource like coal were to be audioned off to a company, the state receives a one-time payment or some miniscule royalty, w hich is a pittance of the total profit that it finally makes from mining. .
Natural Resources in the Neo-Liberal Era: Tools for Corporate Profiteering -In the past few years. we have seen the oil and natur~l gas-rich Krishna Godavari (KG) basin been handed over h:> Reliance > for private profiteering. A previous CAG report has exposed how a dubious "production sharing contract" was signed -between the government and private petroleum operators. data on Relia.nce's capital expenditure was deliberately fudged and inflated, private operators were allowed to sell oil at much higher rates than ONGC. Niira Radia tapes have also told us · --· · h·O~: ttie UPA and the "opposition" N DA happily colluded on the floor of the Parliament to award millions of rupees to .
Reliance_as "retrospective" tax exemptions! herefore, the issue is NOT merely one of reverting to the "correct" .
policy of auctioning natural resources. .
Post-independence, coal was recognised as a "national asset" which the state should manage, keeping in mind the .
.
interests of the "communrty". Coal was thus nationalised -a process thG!t began in 1971 and was completed in 1973_Soon .
afterwards however, the real project of "nationalisationQbegan to unravel. As early as 1976, a clause was introduced in the .
Goal Nationalisation Act to allow coal blocks to be allotted to private iron and steel (and in some limited cases, to private .
power companies too) for their captive consumption. .
.
The ong~oing process of privatising coal mining proceeded with great speed in the 1990s-the Coal Nationallsa:tion .
. ,, Act was amended in 1993 to allow allotment of captive coal miffing blocks to private power companies. Coal p00es were .
deregulated by the Ministry of Coal, and in 1996, the MoC issued yet another notification allowing cement companies to .
acquire captive coal mining blocks. .
.
And as the CAG report now exposes, between 2004-2009, coal mining blocks were handed out on a platter at a pittance to private companies who mine coal as an.d when they can make the most profits. When the issue of allotting coal blocks at ridiculously low rates became too difficult for the UPA to handle. they finally introduced the. new MMD'R Act 2011 , which recommends auctioning of coal blocks. .
Besides this hype,r-active nee-liberal policy shift favouring corporate profits, we are also witnessing how the statemadl:inerv sits back.and watches rampant violations and open loot of mineral resources by the politician-mafia nexus-fum Bellary in Karnataka, to the coal belt in Chhattisgarh and MP, to mineral-rich areas in Odisha and Jharkhand. .
Also, this time around the PMO cannot even pretend (as it tried to do in the 2G scam) not to be involVed. After all, coal ministry was directly under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for long stretches during 2004-2009 when these dubious allocation of coal blocks took place and therefore complicit in this loss of resources. Several of the companies named in the draft CAG report that is causing such a furore are based in BJP-ruled Chhattisqarh. It is dear that after all the public sound and fury, the so-calle'd "opposrtion" BJP'will also willingly participate in a carefully orchestrated cover-up in order to hide the ·huge share they enjoy in this regime of corporate loot So whether the so-called «opposition" .
. .
NDA-BJP chooses to raise the issue or not, whether the CAG chooses to backtrack on its own draft estimates or not, the ~ubious nature of allocation of coal blocks and the obvious possibility of mega corruption involved in the process CANNOT be brushed under the carpet ANYMORE. .
'. ,· .
In designing a mineral policy for the entire count~ it is important to ask: will state policy be decided by corporate profits, or by the larger interests of the people? In the case of an important resource like coal, why should public sector companies have to eng~ge in cut-throat competition with the likes of the Ji.ndals and the Tatas? Why should private comp:aries be .
-.
!·, · allotted captive coal mining blocks? Why can't they simply purchase all the coal they require from Coal India, instead of .
acquiring coal blocks and then using them as speculative capital to profit from? .
.
AISA is organising a public meeting tonight (March 27th) from 9.30 pm onwards at Kaveri mess, which wm be addressed by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (noted journalist who has extensively reported on the regime of corporate loot of natural resources) and Priya Pillai (a r~searcher and activist). We appeal to the student community to participate in'··· .
.
this public meeting in large numbers to discuss these important issues related to the use and misuse of natural resDU:rces. ' Piyush, Vice-President, AlSA, JNU Omprsad, Jt.Secy., A ISA,JNU .
'~. ·::~r::~~;;~;::h~~rr;·.·~ .. ..:-· '·i;.;.·' .
.· .
'· ·' ! :· 1: · ;, .
·;· ,; ,. :·· ' ;_i -;: .
+ .,. l Ti'f: :t !i' .
. .·.:r ,· .
,. ·~: ;t:~ . i~ .l~. ;!;,:: .. ·, : .. . .
·, ,~..·. .. ·. .· ~: .
.
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2012 ID-6542
.
.
.
23-31 March: Sbahadat Saptaah .
BhagatSingh toCom.Chandrashekhar.the Legacy LivesOn.... .
.
s.pea kers .
Public Meetinned..
. .
Whether it is the. 1.76 lakh crore (2G) or Rs 10.7 lakh crore in the coal scam. the CAG has pointed out absence of .
transparent auctions as the reason for massive losses. The issue however Is m_uch deeper. The larger question is. can we arrest all "losses to the state exchequer" merely by auctioning off resources to the highest bidder? Can it be ill the national interest to let private players use up and indiscriminately exhaust .these precious resources as per their whims and fancies merely for private profits, robbing future generations of Indian peopl~ of these resources? Even if a resource like coal were to be audioned off to a company, the state receives a one-time payment or some miniscule royalty, w hich is a pittance of the total profit that it finally makes from mining. .
Natural Resources in the Neo-Liberal Era: Tools for Corporate Profiteering -In the past few years. we have seen the oil and natur~l gas-rich Krishna Godavari (KG) basin been handed over h:> Reliance > for private profiteering. A previous CAG report has exposed how a dubious "production sharing contract" was signed -between the government and private petroleum operators. data on Relia.nce's capital expenditure was deliberately fudged and inflated, private operators were allowed to sell oil at much higher rates than ONGC. Niira Radia tapes have also told us · --· · h·O~: ttie UPA and the "opposition" N DA happily colluded on the floor of the Parliament to award millions of rupees to .
Reliance_as "retrospective" tax exemptions! herefore, the issue is NOT merely one of reverting to the "correct" .
policy of auctioning natural resources. .
Post-independence, coal was recognised as a "national asset" which the state should manage, keeping in mind the .
.
interests of the "communrty". Coal was thus nationalised -a process thG!t began in 1971 and was completed in 1973_Soon .
afterwards however, the real project of "nationalisationQbegan to unravel. As early as 1976, a clause was introduced in the .
Goal Nationalisation Act to allow coal blocks to be allotted to private iron and steel (and in some limited cases, to private .
power companies too) for their captive consumption. .
.
The ong~oing process of privatising coal mining proceeded with great speed in the 1990s-the Coal Nationallsa:tion .
. ,, Act was amended in 1993 to allow allotment of captive coal miffing blocks to private power companies. Coal p00es were .
deregulated by the Ministry of Coal, and in 1996, the MoC issued yet another notification allowing cement companies to .
acquire captive coal mining blocks. .
.
And as the CAG report now exposes, between 2004-2009, coal mining blocks were handed out on a platter at a pittance to private companies who mine coal as an.d when they can make the most profits. When the issue of allotting coal blocks at ridiculously low rates became too difficult for the UPA to handle. they finally introduced the. new MMD'R Act 2011 , which recommends auctioning of coal blocks. .
Besides this hype,r-active nee-liberal policy shift favouring corporate profits, we are also witnessing how the statemadl:inerv sits back.and watches rampant violations and open loot of mineral resources by the politician-mafia nexus-fum Bellary in Karnataka, to the coal belt in Chhattisgarh and MP, to mineral-rich areas in Odisha and Jharkhand. .
Also, this time around the PMO cannot even pretend (as it tried to do in the 2G scam) not to be involVed. After all, coal ministry was directly under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for long stretches during 2004-2009 when these dubious allocation of coal blocks took place and therefore complicit in this loss of resources. Several of the companies named in the draft CAG report that is causing such a furore are based in BJP-ruled Chhattisqarh. It is dear that after all the public sound and fury, the so-calle'd "opposrtion" BJP'will also willingly participate in a carefully orchestrated cover-up in order to hide the ·huge share they enjoy in this regime of corporate loot So whether the so-called «opposition" .
. .
NDA-BJP chooses to raise the issue or not, whether the CAG chooses to backtrack on its own draft estimates or not, the ~ubious nature of allocation of coal blocks and the obvious possibility of mega corruption involved in the process CANNOT be brushed under the carpet ANYMORE. .
'. ,· .
In designing a mineral policy for the entire count~ it is important to ask: will state policy be decided by corporate profits, or by the larger interests of the people? In the case of an important resource like coal, why should public sector companies have to eng~ge in cut-throat competition with the likes of the Ji.ndals and the Tatas? Why should private comp:aries be .
-.
!·, · allotted captive coal mining blocks? Why can't they simply purchase all the coal they require from Coal India, instead of .
acquiring coal blocks and then using them as speculative capital to profit from? .
.
AISA is organising a public meeting tonight (March 27th) from 9.30 pm onwards at Kaveri mess, which wm be addressed by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (noted journalist who has extensively reported on the regime of corporate loot of natural resources) and Priya Pillai (a r~searcher and activist). We appeal to the student community to participate in'··· .
.
this public meeting in large numbers to discuss these important issues related to the use and misuse of natural resDU:rces. ' Piyush, Vice-President, AlSA, JNU Omprsad, Jt.Secy., A ISA,JNU .
'~. ·::~r::~~;;~;::h~~rr;·.·~ .. ..:-· '·i;.;.·' .
.· .
'· ·' ! :· 1: · ;, .
·;· ,; ,. :·· ' ;_i -;: .
+ .,. l Ti'f: :t !i' .
. .·.:r ,· .
,. ·~: ;t:~ . i~ .l~. ;!;,:: .. ·, : .. . .
·, ,~..·. .. ·. .· ~: .
.
.
.