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Trying to put a brave face, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday asserted he was not bothered by his boycott by the BJP in the Parliament and claimed 2011 was “not the toughest” in his career.
“No, it saves me a lot of energy, I suppose,” Chidambaram replied when asked if he was bothered or embarrassed by his boycott in Parliament.
Asked whether 2011 was the toughest year for him as Home Minister, he replied in the negative saying the two blasts — July 13 in Mumbai and September 7 in Delhi —saddened him greatly.
“They were blots. Otherwise I do not think. You seem to feel the challenges more than I do. No, 2011 was not at all a toughest year for me,” he said, evading questions on the allegations and ongoing court cases in the 2G scam.
He also avoided questions on the controversy related to hotelier SP Gupta. Stating that he had already clarified his position on the controversial case, Chidambaram said his Ministry has issued a directive to all officers stipulating that any draft which is prepared and finalised with a note that this issue has the approval of the Home Minister or Home Secretary must be put to either of the two.
Presenting the monthly report of the Home Ministry, Chidambaram admitted that violence in the country was still at an “unacceptably high-level” and reminded militant groups of the futility of armed movement saying only talks can bring solution to their problems.
“Violence is still at an unacceptably high-level and every effort will be made to contain violence,” said Home Minister.
He said he did not agree to the rejection of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Bill by a Parliamentary standing committee and fully supported the UIDAI mandate to issue the Aadhar number — the unique identification number.
“The only point of difference between UIDAI and RGI (Registrar General of India) is who will capture the biometrics. Whether the biometrics will be captured by the RGI or the biometrics will be captured by the UIDAI authorised agencies. That is the only point of difference. So, I am certainly not in favour of rejecting UIDAI or aadhar. I support it fully,” he said.
“No, it saves me a lot of energy, I suppose,” Chidambaram replied when asked if he was bothered or embarrassed by his boycott in Parliament.
Asked whether 2011 was the toughest year for him as Home Minister, he replied in the negative saying the two blasts — July 13 in Mumbai and September 7 in Delhi —saddened him greatly.
“They were blots. Otherwise I do not think. You seem to feel the challenges more than I do. No, 2011 was not at all a toughest year for me,” he said, evading questions on the allegations and ongoing court cases in the 2G scam.
He also avoided questions on the controversy related to hotelier SP Gupta. Stating that he had already clarified his position on the controversial case, Chidambaram said his Ministry has issued a directive to all officers stipulating that any draft which is prepared and finalised with a note that this issue has the approval of the Home Minister or Home Secretary must be put to either of the two.
Presenting the monthly report of the Home Ministry, Chidambaram admitted that violence in the country was still at an “unacceptably high-level” and reminded militant groups of the futility of armed movement saying only talks can bring solution to their problems.
“Violence is still at an unacceptably high-level and every effort will be made to contain violence,” said Home Minister.
He said he did not agree to the rejection of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Bill by a Parliamentary standing committee and fully supported the UIDAI mandate to issue the Aadhar number — the unique identification number.
“The only point of difference between UIDAI and RGI (Registrar General of India) is who will capture the biometrics. Whether the biometrics will be captured by the RGI or the biometrics will be captured by the UIDAI authorised agencies. That is the only point of difference. So, I am certainly not in favour of rejecting UIDAI or aadhar. I support it fully,” he said.
