Sharad Pawar quits as head of ministers' group for Telecom

New Delhi: Just days after he was appointed as head of Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Telecom, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanting to step down. The PM has accepted Mr Pawar's request to be recused of the additional charge.

"...attempts have been made in the past to unnecessary drag me in the controversy surrounding the allocation of 2G spectrum. These allegations were false and ill-motivated, which I strongly refuted. Neither in the personal capacity nor in the official, I was connected with any of the decision making process in this sector. At this juncture, I believe that my association in the decision making process as the Chairman of the EGoM, may further motivate the vested elements to try to drag me in the controversy. As such, I thought it will be appropriate for me to recuse myself from the position of the Chairman of the EGoM on this subject," Mr Pawar wrote in his letter. (Read Sharad Pawar's letter to the PM)

At the height of the 2G spectrum controversy and when arrests were made in the case, Mr Pawar's name was sought to be linked to DB Group-promoted Swan Telecom, a beneficiary of 2G spectrum allocated by Mr Raja in 2008. The charge was then strongly denied by Mr Pawar.

A crucial meeting of the reconstituted EGoM that was scheduled for today was postponed by Mr Pawar. The EGoM had to be reconstituted after exit of Pranab Mukherjee, who was heading it.

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The meeting, the first after Mr Mukherjee resigned as the Finance Minister to contest Presidential election, was to decide on auction of telecom spectrum.

The panel was previously scheduled to meet on June 21 to decide on spectrum pricing and related issues but was deferred as Mr Mukherjee did not want to sit on a judgement on such an important issue as he was entering Presidential race.

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In February 2012, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 2G telecom licences issued during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja, and asked the government to complete spectrum auction by August 31.

In April, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended a base price of Rs. 3,622 crore for a megahertz of spectrum at pan-India level that is around 10 times higher than the price for 2G licences in 2008.

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TRAI's recommendations on spectrum pricing for the auction have met with stiff resistance from the telecom operators who have made various representations to government officials stating that if accepted it would sound the death-knell for the telecom industry.