JPC update

The government will announce a 30-member joint parliamentary panel with terms of reference expected to cover the period of the execution of the first come first-served policy for telecom licences, including the NDA’s term in office. The committee is expected to submit a report in six months but official sources were doubtful if this might be sufficient. The announcement on the JPC, its membership and terms is to be made on Thursday afternoon when the Lok Sabha begins discussing the 2G scam. The proportional representation will see 22 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. The Congress will have eight from the LS and three from the Upper House while the numbers for the BJP will be four and two, respectively. The BSP and the JD(U) will have one member each from both Houses. Larger parties like the BJD, the DMK and the Trinamool will have one member each from the Lok Sabha even though no party apart from the BJP and the Congress has 27 MPs needed to claim a seat in the JPC. Since the AIADMK is to be accommodated, the BJP will give one seat on the panel out of its quota to ally Shiv Sena.