At the end of the state level BSNL meeting at Jaipur it was decided that Barmer should be fairly treated and get the network it deserved. For, with massive oil found, there was good economic sense in that network expansion too. The mystery of the private service providers can be found in the oil discovery. They followed economic logic, and even covered areas of the district where there was no oil. The figure arrived at for Barmer was 32 additional towers so as to cater for the desired expansion of the network. And I could go back and tell the constituents that BSNL “ka ashwasan aa gaya hai”.

That was then, and now is now. The number of towers has not increased, neither has the work on other services. The economic sense displayed by the private players in Barmer does not seem to have made much of an impact on the cabinet managers of the Government of India. The prime minister watched his bright young cabinet colleague swallowed up by an intra-party tsunami. His exit was followed by that of a cabinet decision, which leaves parliamentarians representing rural constituencies deeply concerned.

There is of course a systemic — and ethical — concern about a cabinet decision being tossed out of a Chennai window, along with the minister concerned. Are cabinet decisions to be overturned by non-cabinet members? As per the Constitution, ‘communications’ remains a federal subject. As does the choice of who occupies that office. But amongst the many strange spectacles witnessed in the 14th Lok Sabha, this would certainly make it to one of the seven wonders.

... contd.