Left seeks Trai chief146;s resignation

Left parties have decided to up the pressure on the government to sack Trai Chairman Pradip Baijal. CPIM Leader Nilotpal Basu, in a letter...

Left parties have decided to up the pressure on the government to sack Trai Chairman Pradip Baijal. CPIM Leader Nilotpal Basu, in a letter to PM Manmohan Singh, has demanded that the government should 8216;8216;remove him from office with immediate effect8217;8217; as he 8216;8216;has directly abused his position as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to public interest.8217;8217;

Basu8217;s demand is based on the fact that Baijal8217;s decisions as the Trai chief have caused losses to the national exchequer, BSNL, the consumers and have compromised the country8217;s security.

The CPIM leader in Rajya Sabha and the party8217;s chief spokesperson on telecom, has also drawn the PM8217;s attention to the fact that Baijal was the disinvestment secretary at the time when the Centaur Hotels were sold off.

Basu8217;s letter says :8216;8216;I had already pointed out that the prerequisite of the regulator is to have an impeccable record of integrity. And this has become all the more relevant in view of the CAG report.8217;8217;

When contatced Baijal said: 8216;8216;This is an MP8217;s letter to the PM which I am not aware of. As a bureaucrat I find it very difficult to comment on it.8217;8217;

The letter raises key issues about Trai8217;s latest ADC order which has given rise to a large grey market in international calls as illegal rerouting of calls becomes lucrative under this regime. The leader has reminded of the Left8217;s earlier stand that the 8216;8216;Trai-mandated per minute ADC regime in criminal compliance with certain private operators,8217;8217; was causing the national exchequer a loss of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore annually apart from putting the country8217;s 8216;8216;national security at risk.8217;8217; Basu has also reminded that TDSAT upheld the Left allegations that the ADC regime was faulty through its judgement on March 4, 2005.

Basu now says Trai has perpetuated the same faulty practices in its order of January, 2006. The CPIM leader has accused Trai of misleading the nation through its ADC document 8216;8216;claiming reduction in grey market without revealing the fact that the market is consequent upon termination charge and not just ADC.8217;8217;