Pitroda favors open, transparent e-auction of spectrum

Edison (New Jersey), Oct 3 (PTI) Sam Pitroda, advisor to
the Prime Minister, on Monday favored an open and transparent
e-auction system for all government auctions and tenders,
including the sale of spectrum bandwidth to telecom providers,
to avoid any legal hassle and bad name to the government.
Talking to PTI on Sunday on his way to Chicago after a
visit to New York to address the two-day Pan-IIT Conference,
Pitroda, a tech guru considered the architect of India's
modern telecom revolution, said: "We have to learn from the
past actions and happenings."
"The government and the industry will get the best out of
it. We need to use electronics and open transparent process
and have e-procurement. Why should we indulge in old methods
of auction when we have modern technology at our disposal?" he
queried.
In this regard, Pitroda noted the 3G auction in the
country last year was transparent and there were no
complications whatsoever in the bidding process.
Steps should be taken to implement e-auction and modern
technology in all government auctions and tenders, he
emphasised.
"The 3G spectrum auction last year has shown that auction
of spectrum is the best way forward. E-auction helps all
parties and public to know what had really happened and why
should we not use it in all the government process," he said.
"When technology is available and India is on top it,
what prevents us from going ahead with the e-auctions and
dispense with the old and antiquated system of tenders and
procurements?" he asked.
Pitroda had last year submitted a report to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on measures to revive state-run
telecom major BSNL, but so far, the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) has not commented on or implemented
the recommendations in the report.
The DoT has kept mum on proposals such as implementing a
hire-and-fire policy for inefficient staff and reduction of
excess employees in a bid to revamp the ailing BSNL and gear
it up to meet the competition of private sector telecom
companies.
However, he refused to comment on the ongoing 2G
controversy.
Sam Pitroda is an internationally renowned development
thinker, telecom inventor and entrepreneur who has 44 years of
experience in the information and communications technology
arena and related human and national developments.
Credited with laying the foundations and ushering in
India's technology and telecommunications revolution in the
1980s, Pitroda has been a leading campaigner for bridging the
global digital divide.
During his tenure as Advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi in the 1980s, Pitroda headed six technology missions
related to telecommunications, water, literacy, immunisation,
dairy farming and oil seeds.
He was also the founder and first chairman of India's
Telecom Commission.
Pitroda is also the Chairman of India's National
Knowledge Commission, an advisory body to the Prime Minister
of India, set up to provide a blueprint of reforms in
knowledge-related institutions and infrastructure in the
country.
The commission has offered a series of recommendations on
various aspects of the knowledge paradigm to help India meet
the challenges of the 21st century.
He is currently Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on
Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations.
He holds close to 100 worldwide patents and has published
papers and delivered lectures in the US, Europe, Latin America
and Asia. PTI CORR
MNS