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Commonwealth Games:CERTIFIED LOOT OF TAXPAYERS MONEY, by Poonam I Kaushish, 31 July, 2010 Print E-mail

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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