In an interview with Barkha Dutt, former Coal Secretary Anil Swarup recalled events from the UPA-II era.
Swarup said he had repeatedly warned the Cabinet Secretary that the delays could spark controversy.
He said Jayanthi Natarajan was removed from the Cabinet about a week after his talk with the late Congress leader Oscar Fernandes.
In an interview given to journalist Barkha Dutt, Anil Swarup, former Coal Secretary of India and author, reflected on his experiences during the tenure of the UPA-II government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Sharing insights from his time in the Cabinet Secretariat’s Project Monitoring Group, Swarup said that while many projects were being cleared efficiently, significant delays persisted in key cases due to bottlenecks in ministerial approvals.
Swarup recounted that Jayanthi Natarajan, who was then the Minister for Environment and Forests, had a large number of files awaiting clearance—projects estimated to be worth around ₹54,000 crore. He described this as symbolic of the broader inefficiencies that often affected the functioning of the government at the time. As progress stalled because crucial files remained unsigned.
Concerned about the mounting delays, Swarup said he repeatedly wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, warning that the backlog could lead to serious complications or even public controversy. Over several weeks, he sent multiple notes requesting that the issue be brought to the attention of the Prime Minister. However, no immediate action followed.
Soon after, Swarup was contacted by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. During their meeting, Swarup expressed his frustration and disappointment, explaining that he felt powerless. Ahluwalia assured him that he would personally raise the matter with the Prime Minister.
Later that evening, Swarup was informed by the Cabinet Secretary that the Prime Minister had called to inquire about the situation. The following day, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister reached out to Swarup for more details. When asked how quickly he could provide the data, Swarup said he could share it within ten minutes, as all project information was already uploaded on the government’s online portal. Despite this, no major action was taken afterward.
Swarup also recalled an interaction with the late Oscar Fernandes, a senior Congress leader, during a conference. He said he mentioned to Fernandes that there were growing murmurs about financial irregularities in the clearance of projects. According to Swarup, he told Fernandes that “money was being taken in the name of another senior leader,” implying that some individuals were allegedly collecting funds under the pretext of facilitating project approvals. Fernandes reportedly smiled and said he had also heard such talk.
Swarup recounted, half in jest, that he told Fernandes, “If the money being collected in her name actually reaches her, it’s fine; but if it’s being taken in her name and not reaching her, that’s a tragedy.” During the interview, Barkha Dutt clarified that Swarup was referring to Sonia Gandhi in that remark. Roughly a week after this exchange, Swarup said, Jayanthi Natarajan was removed from the Cabinet.
Drawing a broader comparison, Swarup noted that while the opposition today often criticizes the current government over issues of corruption, similar allegations and administrative lapses were common during the UPA period as well. [Rh/VP]
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