The Centre is trying to find a solution to break the impasse in Parliament over the telecom spectrum allocation scandal but it has no plans to cut short the Winter Session despite repeated disruptions, senior ministers said on Thursday.
?I do not know how to break the impasse. We have not been able to find a solution. We are trying,? said Pranab Mukherjee, finance minister and UPA?s main trouble-shooter in the House.
The Centre has to pass Rs 19,800 crore extra spending plan and SBI Subsidiary Banks Bill among other important business in the Winter Session that is to end on December 13. But business could not be transacted for the 10th straight day as the Opposition continued to disrupt Parliament demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the spectrum allocation scam.
There were rumours Parliament may be adjourned sine die?meaning ending the session?ahead of the scheduled end on December 13. But parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal ruled out such chances. ?Not at all,? he said when asked about an early end of the Winter Session.
Bansal said the JPC probe might not serve the purpose as members would be divided and this might lead to ?rancour?. ?The government has considered and decided not to go for a JPC. A JPC will be sharply divided and lead to rancour,? he said.
?The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has already started looking into the Comptroller and Auditor General?s report on 2G spectrum,? Bansal said.
Last week, CAG in a report detailed how norms were flouted by telecom department under former minister A Raja. The finance minister has said the CAG report was not a ?final? verdict on 2G spectrum allocation as it could be further refined by the PAC.
The 2G scam has pushed the ruling UPA on the back foot even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the guilty would be brought to book and government was not afraid to debate the issue in Parliament.