Delhi Police rapped for under utilising CWG funds

Delhi Police has been rapped by a Parliamentary panel for under-utilisation of funds allotted for modernising its traffic and communication network, noting that there was "serious lacunae" in the implementation of the project ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by M Venkaiah Naidu expressed "great concern" that the project was not initially timed to be completed before the sporting event in October.

The panel also said the Home Ministry has told them that the Delhi government was of the view that the provision of Rs 50 crore made in the budget was not sufficient for completion of Commonwealth Games related projects and needed to be enhanced to Rs 1,000 crore.

"The Committee expresses its displeasure over the under-utilisation of funds meant for modernisation of Traffic and Communication network for which Rs 40 crore was allocated in budget estimates in 2009-10 but only an amount of Rs 10.63 crore could be utilised which indicates serious lacunae in the implementation aspects of the project," it said.

The panel was also "perturbed" to note that the remaining amount has been appropriated for other purposes namely Delhi Police Building Programme.

This was mentioned in its 144th report on Demands for Grants of Home Ministry presented in the Rajya Sabha last week. The panel discussed this matter while discussing security for the Commonwealth Games.

It suggested that the government provide funds to put in place a fool proof security system, noting that organising such an event is a "major challenge" not only from the point of view of infrastructure investment but also from the security aspect "given the global security scenario".

The panel said it has been told by the Home Ministry that Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) will put in place an integrated security system at 36 venues by June 30. Most of the equipment for CCTVs and access control would also be made available by June.

The work regarding installation, commission and testing of Wide Area Network will go up to September three.

The Committee also asked the Home Ministry whether the provision of Rs 50 crore for Delhi government in the budget 2010-11 would be sufficient for completion of remaining Commonwealth Games related projects.

"The Ministry has stated that the Delhi government has informed that the provision of Rs 50 crore made in the budget was not sufficient for completion of remaining projects and it needed to be enhanced to Rs 1,000 crore," the report said.