Let houses function, begs Chidambaram

Finance minister P Chidambaram and coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal held a press conference on Friday and urged the BJP to let Parliament function from Monday.  "We are not running away from a debate," said Mr Chidambaram.  By not allowing a debate, the coal minister added, the BJP is keeping facts concealed from the public. 

The BJP says it cannot allow Parliament to function till the Prime Minister takes responsibility for the thousands of crores which according to the CAG were lost in the allocation of coal fields to private firms between 2004 and 2009, when the Prime Minister himself was handling the portfolio.
 
"The policy that was followed was what had been followed by earlier governments," said Mr Chidambaram.  He also said that the auditor's calculations were flawed.
 
"Loss can arise only if one ton of coal is taken out of Mother Earth and sold at some unacceptable price ... if coal is not mined, where is the loss?" he asked.

"I think because of rising prosperity in last few years, we are enamoured of numbers that run into six and nine digits," he said, questioning the overall figure cited by the auditor as "windfall gains" to private firms.

Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal also said the auditor's report and its calculations are flawed.

Chidambaram said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is ready to make a statement on coal block allocation in Parliament in the context of CAG report; and made a ''fervent appeal'' to the opposition to allow Parliament to function from Monday.