The whistle blows on CWG malpractices - Atasi Das

The multi-event international sporting extravaganza, the Commonwealth Games (CWG), scheduled to be held in New Delhi from October 3-14, 2010, has turned out to be a virtual Pandora’s Box by virtue of its never ending string of financial irregularities and corruption.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has detected ‘procedural irregularities’ (including that in tender issue) in 16 CWG projects cost of total CWG constructions is reportedly Rs 2,000 crore. The CVC report will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the first week of November 2010. More CWG projects are likely to come up for CVC review. Major discrepancies pointed out by the CVC report include, allocation of work to ineligible agencies at high rates and substandard quality of construction. Among the 16 projects charged with irregularities, six are being executed by the Public Works Department, three by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, two each by the Central Public Works Department, the Delhi Development Authority and the New Delhi Municipal Council respectively, and one by RITES, a Government of India Enterprise.

Pages from the corruption diary…

The overlay for the Games is around Rs 650 crore, but simple rental figures can give one goose bumps; a treadmill (on rent for 45 days) comes for around Rs 10 lakh, a chair for Rs 8,378, a 100-litre refrigerator for Rs 42,202. PICO-Deepali consortium, partly owned by Vinay Mittal nephew of BJP’s Sudhanshu Mittal has bagged the biggest supply contract here, worth Rs 230 crore.

The projected CWG budget has risen from an initial estimate of Rs 1,899 crore to an official estimate of Rs 10,000 crore, making it the costliest CWG ever held. The Union Minister for Urban Development, S Jaipal Reddy has put the figure precisely at Rs 11,500 crore. India’s bid for the CWG has cost the public coffers around Rs 137 crore. The huge expenses incurred have pushed up the tax burden of the Delhiites.

In its bid to make the Games a success, the Delhi government appears to have messed up its priorities: Rs 264.95-crore fund earmarked for the ‘Scheduled Caste Sub Plan’ for Delhi, meant to help Delhi’s marginalised population has reportedly been siphoned off towards meeting CWG expenses.

Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman - Organising Committee, CWG and President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has claimed that around Rs 1,620 crore of the projected costs have been raised as a government loan, to be repaid from the revenues generated, from the sale of tickets, merchandise, broadcasting rights and sponsorships of the Game.

The CWG has reportedly created around 2.5 million jobs, most of which are temporary ones being done by the migrant workforce. There is allegation of underpay, lack of safety and improper living conditions for the daily wage labourers working on the construction sites. Sources put the daily wages of unskilled workers at Rs 85 to Rs 100 and that of skilled workers at Rs 120 to Rs 130, for eight hours of work – way below Rs 152, the stipulated state minimum wage in Delhi.

Construction projects (including the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium – the main venue) have failed to meet multiple deadlines and those already completed are not up to the mark. Major seepage problems have cropped up at the Talkatora Boxing Stadium and at the Yamuna Sports Complex venues; embankments and roads have collapsed at the new shooting range at Kadarpur in Gurgaon. Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, has conceded that Games related construction activities could well roll over onto the first week of September, crossing over the August 31, 2010 deadline, laid by the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, for completion of all CWG projects.

The games are barely two months away and the sponsorship money raised stands at a paltry Rs 405 crore as against the targeted Rs 960 crore. There is a virtual absence of international sponsors, with most of the current sponsors being public sector companies. The organisers have terminated the contract of the Australian consultancy firm, Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM), citing ‘non-performance’ in bringing in sponsorship deals. The Australian government has backed SMAM saying that India has made it a scapegoat for hiding its own incompetence and corruption.

The treasurer of the CWG Organising Committee and secretary of the All India Tennis Association, Anil Khanna has put down his papers on moral grounds on August 5, 2010, in view of a likely ‘conflict of interest’ regarding the contracts secured by his son’s company, Rebound Ace, for laying 14 synthetic courts at the RK Khanna tennis stadium.  Ace Indian tennis players have expressed reservation about the re-laid synthetic surface, as it is prone to injury risks.

UK-based firms AM Films and its sister concern, AM Cars (whose services were used at the Queen's Baton Relay in London on October 29, 2009), owned by Ashish Patel, have received around £ 2,00,000 in payments without any proper legal contract. Kalmadi’s claim that AM Cars had been recommended by the Indian High Commission in UK has been refuted by the Foreign Ministry, a move, which implicitly suggests that the recommendation document was forged.

A three member probe team headed by Jarnail Singh, CEO, has suspended T S Darbari, Joint Director General, Organising Committee, CWG; and M Jeychandran, Head - Finance and Accounts Wing, Organising Committee, CWG on August 5, 2010, after finding them guilty of negotiating ‘bad financial deals’ with AM Films.  The UK government has found unaccounted money worth £ 25,000 delivered from the CWG to AM films.

The CWG organising committee has handed over the probe against its scam tainted officials to the Enforcement Directorate after re-appointing A K Mattoo as the treasurer; General Lalit Bhanot is its current secretary.

Conclusion