PMO seeks monthly update on telecom

PMO seeks monthly update on telecom
NAVIKA KUMAR

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 17: The Prime Minister's Office's (PMO) interest in the Communications Ministry refuses to die down. Top brass in the communications ministry have been asked to submit a monthly report on the ministry to the PMO. While during the last 18 months this was passed off on account of a large turnover of ministers, this time despite political heavy-weight Ram Vilas Paswan being the Communications Minister, the PMO's interest in the ministry has raised hackles in the ministry.

The PMO is known to ask for regular updates from several departments, but its interest in the telecom sector is probably unparallelled. In a note to the communications ministry, the PMO has stated that all issues referred in the Presidential address in the Parliament would be monitored directly by the PMO.

As a result, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated a process of submitting these reports to the PMO. The summary of the latest report by the DoT includes all areas such as cellular mobile services,fixed service providers, cable services, radio paging services, radio trunking services, national long distance, global mobile personal communication services, satecom, V-sat services, resolution of problems of existing operators, restructuring of the DoT, spectrum management, universal service obligation, role of the regulator and changes in the legislation required to strengthen the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are some of the topics on which the DoT sends its reports to the PMO.

This direct monitoring by the PMO has virtually left no area where any decisions are taken at the ministry level. Most files, relating to the National Telecom Policy 1999, licence fees and bank guarantees paid by operators or outstanding with them, are all referred to the PMO for a final decision.

The latest 14-page report from the DoT gives the actual status of every aspect of the telecom sector in a tabulated form as a ready reckoner for the PMO.

There has been a succession of ministers with thecommunications portfolio ever since the BJP-led government came to power the last time. Starting with Buta Singh who lasted in the ministry for a brief period of two months, followed by Sushma Swaraj who held for another five months or so. Then there was a brief period when the Prime Minister held the portfolio for a while and the PMO virtually called the shots in the sector.