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All that finance minister P Chidambaram could do with the much-awaited Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011, was to introduce it in the Lok Sabha amid chaos as Opposition parties lashed out at the government over a hike in fuel prices and the missing coal files.
Outside the Parliament, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh launched a stinging attack on the government’s handling of the economy on a day the BSE Sensex plunged 651 points.
“The country should have foreign exchange reserves for at least 12-14 months. Our present reserves cannot last beyond four months,” said Singh, adding the present economic situation was “worse than the 1991 crisis”.
Responding to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s criticism of the Opposition not letting crucial legislative business being conducted in Parliament, Rajnath Singh said the BJP’s role was that of a “watchdog” and not of a “cheerleader” of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. In Parliament, although Prime Minister Singh attempted to introduce a sense of balance and said the government had “nothing to hide” in the coal block allocation issue and “appropriate” action would be taken over the missing files, the opposition was far from convinced. The Opposition was even more exercised by the fact that the prime minister was leaving to attend the G20 meeting and by the time he returned, the Parliament session would be over. “Before leaving for the G-20 summit, the prime minister must explain where 'I-120' went missing," BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters after a meeting of the parliamentary party meeting. I-120 stands for India's Rs 120 crore allegedly siphoned off in the coal scam, he added.
While coal minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal has claimed only seven files are missing, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said 157 files related to the allocations are untraceable. Attacking the prime minister for his remarks that he was not the custodian of files in the coal ministry, V Maitreyan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam said: "As far as the coal scam is concerned, you and you alone are answerable to the country...Mystery of missing files in the scam is getting murkier by day.”
Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said: "We are not satisfied with answers by the coal minister... I had raised one point why no FIR (first information report) was done, no case was lodged and no investigation is done...The fact that it’s not done increases the bar of suspicion... Identify and punish the guilty."
Derek O’ Brien from the Trinamool Congress wanted to know who was the custodian of the files, referring to an earlier assertion by the prime minister that he was not the custodian.
Naresh Agarwal of the Samajwadi Party sought to know who was heading the coal portfolio during the period when the files went missing and what were the observations given by the public accounts committee on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India report.
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati said the issue of missing files was a serious matter and the prime minister should tell why action was not initiated against the officials responsible.
When Prime Minister Singh left the House after his statement, majority of the Opposition members were on feet. "Not even one question was answered," BJP’s Naidu and Ravishankar Prasad said, at which Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha P J Kurien intervened: "You wanted the PM to come and reply. The PM came and replied. It is for the PM to reply what he wants. We cannot expect the PM to say what we want…” The House was later adjourned till Wednesday.
In the Lok Sabha, there was time only for the Finance Minister to table the pension Bill before pandemonium led to adjournment for the day.
