By IANS,
New Delhi : It was like “back to school days” for members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G licences as they were given lessons on mobile phone technology and the basics of spectrum here Wednesday.
The MPs who constitute the panel, headed by Congress leader P.C. Chacko, were made to sit in classroom-type conditions and had officials of the telecom department and experts brief them on the spectrum technology and how satellites are used to send and receive mobile phone signals.
The MPs emerged smiling from the “classroom” and said it was like “back to school days”.
Speaking privately, because they are not allowed to on the issue, they said the meeting ended in a cordial atmosphere. There was no mention of the row between Congress and opposition members over inclusion of former ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha in the panel.
The Congress had objected to their inclusion because as BJP ministers, they had played a key role in formulating the telecom policy when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was in power.
An MP said the issue was not raised because Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has “already settled the issue”.
The JPC was formed after a persistent demand by the opposition for a parliamentary probe into the 2G spectrum scam, at the centre of which is jailed former communications minister A. Raja who is alleged to have sold the licences to private firms at throwaway prices, causing a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the nation.