Press Trust of India reported that BJP demanded that the Centre should make public the minutes of screening committee meeting held to decide on coal block allocation during the UPA rule.

Mr Prakash Javadekar a party spokesman said that "People should know the truth as to on what basis the coal block were sanctioned to private companies and this can be done if the documents pertaining to proceedings were made public."

Responding to the statement by Union Minister Mr Kapil Sibal that representatives of the state government also attended the screening committee meeting, Mr Javadekar said only one representative from the state government was entitled to attend the meeting without veto power.

Mr Javadekar said that on the contrary, 10 secretaries of the central government and the Minister of State for Coal attended. The government should not selectively leak letters written to the Centre by state chief ministers opposing coal block auction and should make public the communications received from all the 28 chief ministers.

He said that it was absurd logic that Sibal was holding the state government responsible for implementing the decisions made by the Prime Minister himself in coal block allotments.

The Monsoon Session of the Parliament failed to transact any business owing to obstinate posture of the government in not accepting the Opposition's demand for an impartial probe into the coalgate. Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh should own up responsibility in the matter.

Source - Press Trust of India

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