As new telecom minister Kapil Sibal?s shining white ambassador pulled up inside the telecom ministry?s compound, 15 senior officials marched towards their new boss?s room, armed with brief notes on their accomplishments and their yet-to-do lists. Sibal, however, took them by surprise. Instead of a detailed meeting on the CAG report, the officials simply introduced themselves and Sibal gave them his mobile number, saying they should feel free to text him in case they wanted a private meeting.
The mood at the telecom regulator Trai was cautious, and Trai has decided to wait a few days before sending its recommendation to cancel some licences.
While Sibal waits for his SMSs, ministry officials say they?ll wait and watch, to get a sense of whether Sibal is a stop-gap minister, and to learn his mind. Among the first things to see is whether he?d like the wrongly allotted licences cancelled?the CAG said 85 of the 122 licences didn?t meet the eligibility criteria. The DDG Access Services (the person responsible for allotment of the licences) AK Srivastava wasn?t in the meeting.
Raja?s economic advisor RK Chandolia, who directed most events in the ministry, was not at the meeting either.
Sibal told telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar, ?I will have a longer chat with you later.? Among others, Sibal is expected to have a detailed conversation with Vijayalakshmi Gupta (Member finance, the post earlier held by Manju Madhavan who was hounded out by Raja for saying that the spectrum should be auctioned since the 2001 price wasn?t the current market price for it). Even before the Trai letter on cancellation of licences is sent out, Madame Gupta would be expected to explain the rationale as to why no penalty has yet been imposed on defaulters, including cancelling of some licences.
Since the licensing decisions were taken before Chandrasekhar took charge?S Behura had signed the files after his predecessor DS Mathur refused to so so?the big explanation he might have to give is about his letter to CAG saying it had no powers to examine the ministry?s decisions. All in all, a tough week for ministry officials who, at the end of the day, remain unsure as to what tune the new minister wants them to sing.