Parliament has voted for setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2 G Spectrum allocation from 1998 to 2009. The process for a JPC probe was completed yesterday with the Rajya Sabha adopting a motion to include its 10 members in the Committee. The Lok Sabha had already passed the resolution recommending inclusion of 20 MPs in the JPC last week. The JPC has been mandated to recommend appropriate procedure for allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum.

Replying to the debate, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal urged the JPC to look into the larger question of technology being available at affordable prices in telecom besides suggesting suitable measures to ensure transparent functioning of the system. Earlier, moving the resolution, he made it clear that he never said zero loss if spectrum was auctioned. Charging BJP of lapses in spectrum allocation in the NDA regime, he asserted that the Government is looking at the report of One Man Committee carefully and action will be taken against those who are found responsible for the lapses. Supporting the motion, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley defended the decisions taken by the then NDA Government saying that they were instrumental in the growth of teledensity in the last one decade. He alleged that the advent of private players in the telecom sector had started influencing the policy of spectrum allocation. Several other members from opposition and ruling benches participated in the debate and put across their point of view. Our Parliamentary Correspondent reports that most of the speakers spoke on the expected lines before the House adopted the motion.