PANJIM: Terming the allegations of large-scale corruption levelled against the State government by the opposition MLAs on the coal block issue as baseless, Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane said the opposition MLAs should refrain from making such allegations.
“The Opposition was barking at a wrong tree,” Rane said, responding to queries from media persons on Wednesday on the opposition rushing to the well of the House during Question Hour and then addressing the media on the issue. This issue had dominated the Assembly proceedings on Wednesday leading to the Speaker adjourning one of the sessions.
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The Central government has allocated the coal block at Madhya Pradesh to the Goa government. The opposition MLAs have accused the State of being involved in a Rs 1 crore coal block scam in connection with the choice of consultant that had been engaged for it.
Rane reiterated that the allegations are baseless as the coal block is yet to be allotted to any company. He added that the consultant, who has been selected for the project, has the experience of working with 20 public sector undertakings and has experience in the coal block sector.
Elaborating further about the consultant, the Industries Minister said, “The company has already clarified that the cases against them are either withdrawn or yet to be charge-sheeted.”
Rane also explained that the allocation of the coal block has been delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country.
“The State government is yet to float the Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the Block,” he said.
He also had a counter allegation against the former governments, which he said are under the scanner, as 22 files which were created during their time regarding the coal block were confiscated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He added that they (State government) are yet to get back the 22 files.
