New Delhi, March 18 A verbal spat between the government and DMK members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday turned into a fierce argument as the opposition raised the matter of statutory dues on telecom companies and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cited the 2G scam and said that he was ready for a debate over the issue.
The heated exchanges between DMK members A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran and Prasad over 2G spectrum scam took place during Question Hour.
Seeking to counter the DMK members, Prasad said that he wanted to know "how much telecom (sector) has suffered because of them", targeting both Raja and Maran who had also served as Communication Ministers during the UPA government.
The argument between Prasad and Raja began when the DMK leader raised an issue related to dues faced by telecom companies in the wake of the Supreme Court's October 24, 2019 verdict for payment of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues amounting to Rs 1.47 lakh crore.
Referring to newspaper reports while raising a supplementary question, Raja said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Minister has filed a plea before the Supreme Court for staggered payment of AGR dues by telecom companies and if the apex court agrees to this, it will be a big relief for AGR-hit telecompanies.
"Yesterday, newspapers carried very hot and burning articles. This government came to power by saying that Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss to the exchequer in 2G (spectrum allocation). We suffered a lot. That is not the question. I want to ask a legitimate question," Raja said when question number 346 linked to Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) mentioned in the list of 20 questions for oral answers came up.
"The newspapers carried articles that the Law Minister and the Telecom Ministry succeeded in getting the Supreme Court's permission to allow private telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone Idea to pay statutory dues totalling Rs one lakh crore over 20 years. You succeeded. Who gave concession to the operators?"
Declining to comment on the issue, Prasad said: "Arguments (in the case) are still going on in the Supreme Court."
He, however, said there are around 90 crore customers and the government has to look at balancing three factors survival of the telecom sector, compliance with the court order and the interest of consumers.
Prasad said that the government wants a "fair and transparent" sector and is committed to it.
Responding to Raja's comments on 2G case, he said there should be a debate on the subject and his Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal supported him, amid protests by DMK members.
Intervening then, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said: "What is happening?", while Speaker Om Birla cautioned Raja not to ask questions based on what is published in newspapers and raise issues only on the basis of their own information.
In a lighter vein, he said that both of you are experts on 2G, in an apparent reference to Raja and Maran.
Raja, who was accused in the 2G case, also said the government came to power talking about the Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss, which is a "magic number". Maran, party member T.R. Baalu and others also protested at the government's reaction on the matter.
( With inputs from IANS )