New Delhi, Jan 6: The Union government expanded the Group on Telecommunication (GoT) here on Wednesday, with the inclusion of three senior ministers. It will now include finance minister Yashwant Sinha, information & broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan and communications minister Jagmohan. External affairs minister Jaswant Singh will continue as chairman.The expansion follows a directive from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who, it is learnt, was keen to evolve a broadbased telecom policy at the earliest. The GoT was constituted on November 20, 1998, to give a detailed report on various issues plaguing the telecommunications sector.
In its meeting, the GoT decided to fix a fresh timeframe for finalising the report. The prime minister had earlier asked for a report by December 31, 1988.
Under the new timeframe, the final draft of the policy will be put together by January 24. Following this, inputs from the public will be invited till February 8. The report will also be put on the Internet. Thefinal report is to be presented to the prime minister on February 20, sources said.
The GoT is at an advanced stage of formulating the new policy, taking into view changes in the communication scenario in India since 1994. The department of telecommunications (DoT) has issued an order formally notifying the expansion, sources said.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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