'PM cannot be held responsible for irregularities in 2G spectrum allocatio

'PM cannot be held responsible for irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation'

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia says, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) cannot be held responsible for the irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation.

Speaking at a TV programme, he said, he does not think that the Prime Minister should be behaving as the Super Minister, supervising everything that his colleague does. He said this in response to a question on whether former Telecom Minister A Raja followed the Prime Minister's advice to be cautious and transparent while giving licences and 2G spectrum in 2007-2008.

Mr. Ahluwalia clarified that the PM had been assured that policies were being followed and deviations, if any, had the approval of the Solicitor General. He said, in an environment like that if something wrong or unfair is being done by a Ministry, people affected take the matter to court.

If the PM keeps monitoring, then Mr. Ahluwalia said, we are not running a Cabinet government, we are running something like a micro-managed form of government. He was of the view that various ministries were responsible for carrying out the affairs of the government and the Prime Minister alone cannot be held responsible for everything.