March 1, 2011 5:04 PM

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Sibal moves motion for setting up JPC in RS

The Process of setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee will be completed today after the Rajya Sabha adopts a motion to this effect. The motion was moved in the house by the Telecom Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal. He also announced the names of the ten members of the Rajya Sabha who will be part of the 30 member committee to look into the spectrum allocation from 1998 to 2009. Strongly defending his observations of zero loss to exchequer, Mr. Sibal informed the house the context in which the statement was made.The Telecom Minister strongly supported the first cum first serve, stating that it took the teledensity from about 9 percent to over 18 per cent in 2007. This he said has gone to over 66 per cent in December last year, with 730 million mobile connections in operation. Supporting the motion, Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Arun Jaitley alleged that even after recommendation by TRAI to reassess the market value of the spectrum and cited the observations made by the then finance secretary and finance minister, the price mechanism were not changed. He also dismissed the claim of the government that the spectrum allocation was a kind of subsidy to consumers to increase teledensity describing it as a scandal. The house was discussing the motion, when reports last came in. The motion has been adopted by the Lok Sabha last week and the speaker will nominate the chairperson of the JPC.

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