Political Diary
New Delhi, 31 July 2010
Commonwealth
Games
CERTIFIED LOOT OF TAXPAYERS MONEY
By Poonam I Kaushish
It is billed as
“national prestige” but reads more like national shame. No guesses, I am
talking about the Commonwealth
Games (CWG) to be held in Delhi from
3-14 October. Daily India
is inundated with horrific details of certified loot by our shameless political and
bureaucratic mai-baaps. Even as
Organizing Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi nonchalantly fobs off queries with,
“Not my headache.” Three words which tell the tragic tale of the misdirected ‘unsporting’
event. Raising a moot point: Will India's showpiece Games turn into a non-event
and huge embarrassment?
A sordid saga of free-for-all hustling-muscling of Rs 35,000
crore that has vanished into the pockets of the politico-officer-engineer-contractor
nexus. Scams that are brazenly breathtaking: the successful "favourite"
bidder who gets the contract after quoting the lowest amount is allowed to
tamper with figures post-auction so that profit margins could be jacked up.
Higher costs are justified by citing "urgent and emergent
circumstances". Items not on bid papers are incorporated. Concrete samples
fail to meet the strength test.
Use of sub-standard material, rigging of bids, gold-plating
and sanctioning of projects not needed at all, fake completion certificates et
al of games venues, infrastructure and city upgrades. All game for wealth! No
matter it would take over two years for the CBI, ED and other investigating
agencies to get to the bottom of the corrupt pit of 16 projects totalling over
Rs 2500 crore. With fresh additions to the "work load" appended every
day.
Worse, TV screens are flooded with images of leaking roofs,
mountains of debris and incomplete stadias with just 60 days to go for the
inauguration ceremony now costing Rs 188 crore up from Rs 53 crore. Behind all
the bravado are repeatedly missed deadlines. Yet, Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s
standard response is, “Please leave us alone” and Union Urban Minister Jaipal
Reddy coos, “Indians excel at leaving things till the last minute and then do a
good job”. Really? An optimism that is
not shared by anyone.
Recall, in 2003, when India was awarded the Games, they
were expected to cost Rs 635 crore, this was revised to Rs 767 in 2007 and Rs
1,780 crore in 2008. Today the sky is the limit with organisers justifying the
escalation because of time constraint or that they “forgot” to add a few costs!
As per international guidelines, all the CWG projects were to be completed by
May 2009 and the last year kept for trial runs. However, the first stadium was
handed over for trials only a few days ago. But Saturday’s downpour has led to
water-logging!
More. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
2009 report, in 13 of the 19 sporting venues, the work shortfall is between 25%
and 50%. Read, these projects would either miss the deadline or compromise on
quality. At least six infrastructure projects have been shelved by delinking
them from the Games.
Cases in point: main venue Jawaharlal Nehru stadium has
missed several deadlines for completion, the latest is 15th August. At the new
shooting range at Kadarpur, inaugurated in May, embankments and roads have
collapsed in heavy rains. There are major seepage problems at Talkatora Boxing
Stadium and at the Yamuna Sports Complex where the false ceiling collapsed and
the wooden flooring got damaged due of water-logging. At the Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee Aquatic Complex so far only 40% of the work has been finished. There
is a 50% work shortfall at all training venues, Games
Village, Shivaji Stadium, Ludlow
Castle Hall, Jamia
Milia Islamia
University etc.
Meanwhile, the all-too-familiar finger-pointing is on. The CPWD
blames the Organizing Committee which passes the buck to Delhi Government which
rests the blame on “unknown officials” of the PWD, MCD, NDMC, CPWD and DDA. Lost
in this merry-go-round of accusations and portraying Delhi as a ’world class’
city, read construction site, none spares a thought to the Government’s— Centre
and State —inherent duty to provide good and honest governance.
Sadly, our leaders have lost sight of their priorities, legal
and moral commitments to the aam aadmi.
Three cheers for Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar for upping the ante against the
"loot going on in the name of ‘evil’ Games." Arguably, can a poor
country inhabited with 40% of the world’s hungry, where one in three Indians
lives below the poverty line, where 46% children and 55% women are malnourished
justify spending Rs 35,000 crore on a 12-day sports event? Is this how we build
“national pride?” Or should we say national disgrace and unwarranted
extravagance.
World statistics show that mega sports events result in
losses for the host country, especially when security costs are factored in. Greek
Capital Athens was sold the same dream of renewed wealth and glory when it won
the right to stage the 2004 Olympics costing £9.4bn. But the legacy is a tragedy
of immense financial debt, of €50,000 for each Greek household. Today, Greece
is in the abyss of utter economic ruin. Besides, 21 of the 22 stadiums built
now lie abandoned. Some have become gypsy camps.
South Africa with extreme wealth disparity, hosted the
football World Cup. Hotels renovated at astronomical costs saw alarmingly low
levels of uptake for rooms. Today, they are struggling to recoup the costs. India’s
expenses for the CWG too are likely to create a negative financial legacy for
the nation, the effects of which are already visible in the form of higher cost
of living and taxes for Delhi residents.
Clearly, Delhi has been persuaded to stage a cripplingly
luxurious party on the facetious promise that the Games will herald a new
chapter in India’s history, enhance its international reputation and providing
a major and lasting economic boost. But the aam
aadmi may have been sold a lie. A razzmatazz for which the guests might not
even turn up!
Before it is too late, the need of the hour is for detailed
inquiry into the decision-making and bidding process as well as on the total
expenditure of the CWG. There must be full public disclosure of all finances,
officials who have consistently overstated benefits from the Games, withheld
critical information, misappropriated funds should be investigated and prosecuted
if found guilty.
Undoubtedly the Government needs to have a long-term legacy
plan based on principles of economic sustainability. Besides, given our stark
socio-economic reality and the negative social and economic costs in the run-up
to the Games, New Delhi should under no circumstances, bid for the Olympic
Games or any other mega events. Instead, all available resources should be
spent on providing food, housing, education, sanitation, water, and healthcare
for those living below the poverty line.
All in all, the Commonwealth Games are caught in a
cleft-stick ---- between the wailing Cassandras’ who assert that India should
never have bid for the Commonwealth Games and the Caesars’ with their never-say-die optimism
who maintains that mega sporting events are just what the masses want. An Rs
35,000 crore question. True, when push comes to shove India will showcase its
glory (sic) to the world. Chalu and
all. Kalmadi needs to stop whining, “Don’t ask me.” Then who? The buck stops squarely at his
doorstep! ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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