Democratic mining

Piyush Goel,coal and power minister , in line with his government's penchant for riding on enthusiasm ahead of reality,has promised 24/7 power to everyone in five years !He ought to be realistic. Even the Apex court had opined that auction is not the only way to allot natural resources.But then retracting into a shell of self doubt and an equal lack of self confidence and will,governments have dared to do it no other way.If the UPA had a flea - market sale of coal blocks,the BJP elevated it to the prim and proper levels of a Sotheby auction,where coal was rendered captive to high end producers who are akin to -art collectors ! If the former was flawed on speculative acquisitions,the later purely on bid values.In either case,coal has become a futures commodity not an urgently needed fuel for growth.No wonder China is dismissive of our democratic approach to material progress