Working on policy to aid PSUs for overseas acquisitions: PM

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday insisted that the Central Government must constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam, and questioned Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on him being ready to appear before the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC). "If the Prime Minister is ready to face PAC, then what is the problem in a JPC probe? The government should not decide on who should conduct the inquiry in such a case and should go by the opposition's demand," Gadkari told reporters here. He further said that the JPC would also have members from the Congress similar to the in PAC. "The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would hold rallies against corruption tomorrow in different parts of the country," said Gadkari, asserting that a massive amount is involved in scams during the regime of the current United Progressive Alliance Government ( UPA )) Government at the Centre. On Monday, the BJP accused Dr. Manmohan Singh, of being defensive, after he offered to appear before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in connection with the 2G scam . "Prime Minister is hiding something. He is hiding the fact that 2G spectrum scam took place in 2007. For the last three years, the Opposition has been crying that huge sums of money have been lost and benefited private parties. Why he has kept quiet for all these three years," said senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley "He (Prime Minister) has been saying that the minister concerned told him that it was a past practice, which is where the whole cover-up took place. The Prime Minister has to answer this not before his auditors, but before the Parliament," Jaitley added. Refusing to back down from their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the scam, Jaitley said: " It is a matter of concern for the nation that a Prime Minister should be pushed to a position where he has to say that I have nothing to hide." BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: "When he (Prime Minister) is ready to come and answer any question before Public Accounts Committee... Why not Joint Parliamentary Committee? JPC is constitutional body. He knows PAC's role will be limited to a CAG report. What about other issues?" "Everybody wants a clear and transparent investigation and punishment to the guilty. That's possible through JPC only," he added. Javadekar further said: "We will continue demanding it. It is a parliamentary instrument." Dr. Manmohan Singh in his speech at the Congress' 83rd plenary on Monday said he was ready to appear before the PAC investigating the 2G scam. He ruled out the setting up of a JPC to go into the controversy. "I sincerely believe that like Caesar's wife, the Prime Minister should be above suspicion. And for this reason, I am prepared to appear before the Public Accounts Committee even though there is no precedent to that effect," he said. Rejecting opposition's demand for a JPC, Dr. Singh said that it is wrong to suggest that the government does not want a JPC because it will have the power to summon him. He said: "I have nothing to hide."

However, he feels that there is a need to improve productivity of state-run firms.