Coal policy is 20 years old

Finance minister P Chidambaram questioned the selective focus on coal allocation under UPA regime, saying the policy was in operation for two decades and was either good or bad for the entire period.
“Why this cut-off year of 2004? The policy (of coal block allocation) is in place since 1993. If it is flawed, it is flawed since 1993,” he said.
The statement appeared to question BJP’s charge that the Congress government had inflicted loss on the state exchequer by not auctioning coal blocks. BJP has been blockading Parliament seeking the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation after the CAG report on the issue kicked up a row.
Chidambaram quoted from a speech of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to indicate how BJP satraps were against auction of coal blocks. He even said that of 32 coal blocks which had shown unsatisfactory progress and were cautioned, seven were from pre-2004 phase (when NDA was in power).
Defending the government, he said UPA had inherited the policy of coal allocation but the PM decided to move to auction. He said, “If you don’t change the policy, you are not in the wrong. If you try to change the policy, you are in the wrong.”