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Journalism of Courage
An empowered group of ministers seems to have remained unable to resolve the deadlock over release of 3G spectrum by the defence services at a meeting held in the capital on Thursday.
None of the members of the EGoM,headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,was willing to talk to media on the discussions at the meeting,but there were widespread speculations that the Ministry of Defence did not agree with the Ministry of Communications.
On the meeting,Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the committee “discussed the issue,but the chairman specially instructed all members not to share it.”
When asked why the decision could not be shared with the media,Soni said: “We will share it at appropriate time when a decision is taken. Discussions may not necessarily be conclusive.”
The meeting was held to review progress on auction of 3G mobile licences amid sharp differences between telecom and defence ministries over release of spectrum (airwaves) for commercial use.
The government plans to commence auction of 3G spectrum from January 14,2010,but lack of clarity on number of slots to be sold could derail the process.
The government has estimated a revenue of about Rs 35,000 crore from sale of spectrum in current financial year. Today’s EGoM meeting was the second in three days.
