Ex-Coal Secretary to NDTV: Can't rule out corruption in coal block allotments
As the CBI begins investigating aspects of how coal fields were allotted to private players between 2006 and 2009, former coal secretary PC Parakh tells NDTV that he cannot rule out corruption in those allotments. Mr Parakh says that his notings warned clearly that unless the coal fields were auctioned through a transparent bidding system, "wrong things could happen." Mr Parakh also says that the PM was in favour of moving to an auction system "but nothing happened." The Prime Minister's Office and the Coal Minister have both said that the allocations were made by a screening committee which followed the guidelines that existed at the time. However, Mr Parakh says that the committee was subjected to "all sorts of pressure."
