The latest edition of Common wealth games have been shrouded in mystery and controversy right from the start. There have been allegations that Indian Olympic committee has paid money to the tune of 1,00,000/- US $ to various countries Olympic associations to win the bid for the Delhi games.
The games bid was won by India in the year 2003 and for five years everyone was sleeping. There was confusion as to whom the games belonged. Did they belong to Suresh Kalmadi, or to the erstwhile sports minister Mani Shanker Aiyar who resigned apparently disgusted the way the games preparations were going on. Aiyar also questioned the way the bids for the various civil work contracts were being doled out. Or did they belong to the Delhi state headed by Shelia Dixshit?
Whatever it was the entire country watched with disgust the way things were handled. Each and every dead line was missed and the gobble’s propaganda kept on mounting. The glib lies that Kalmadi, Gill and Banot were doling out were amateurish. They kept on saying that everything would be all right. They told us that our hygiene levels are different from that of the other countries? They said that CWG would get ready just like the typical Indian Shaadi where all the things would be tied up literally at the last minute.
What went wrong was the miscalculation of the scale of things that have to be done. The end result India has become a laughing stock in front of the whole world. Bridges were falling, dogs were sleeping on beds made out for athletes, and security was not up to the mark. The repercussions were swift and humiliating. World calls athletes were pulling out. Things had become so serious that there were rumors that the games would have to be called off.
What else can we expect from a sports minster who refuses to recognize Pullela Gopichand, the All England Badminton champion or insults the coach of the world champion wrestler? The same sports minster tries to give a presentation when the Prime minister calls for a last minute firefighting meetings. The Prime minister had to tell him that time for talk was up and it was time to work. Rather walk the talk.
Last minute efforts are being made. But the country has lost out. We have already spent in excess of Rs 40,000/- crores and what do we have to show for the money spent? Increase in metro lines in Delhi and some very faulty and shaky stadiums. The same money could have been fruitfully spent on issues that are starting us in the face including runaway prices and farmer’s suicides.
The lessons that we should learn are many. We need management experts who have expertise in project management. They need to be free of political interference and work under the scrutiny of the Indian government. They should not have WISE men like Kalmadi, Gill and Lalit Banot putting spokes in the games work. A committee should be set up and the guilty should be punished for showing the country and showing us up in the worst light possible.
Let us hope that the next time India is awarded a major event we can pull it off with better coordination than we did it this time. Let us not forget Indira Gandhi who made the 1982 Asian games a huge success. Also let us not forget China which is hosting the Asian games in December who has handed over the games village in September itself a full two months AHEAD of schedule. Let us at least learn from our neighbor if we have any pretense of being a world power and challenging the might of China.
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