Preparations for Commonwealth Games on track

Preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October are at an advanced stage, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government asserted in its report card Tuesday.

The report card of UPA-II, released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on completion of one year in office, said the prestigious event presents an excellent opportunity to herald the country’s emergence as a significant sporting nation and showcase its organisational capacity.

“The UPA government has approved a scheme for the preparation of Indian teams for the Commonwealth Games with a budget of Rs.678 crore, which is being implemented,” said the report.

It said the government has approved a budget of Rs.11,494 crore for the successful conduct of the Games scheduled October 3-14 in the capital.

A total of 51 Commonwealth countries are participating in the mega-event.

“Besides promoting closer ties between the people of the Commonwealth countries and promoting tourism, this mega multi-disciplinary sports event will provide the nation with state-of-the-art international standard sports infrastructure,” the report card said.

According to it, over 25,000 volunteers from the National Service Scheme (NSS), National Cadet Corps (NCC), universities and colleges in and around Delhi would act as guides to sportspersons, spectators and tourists.

“It will also result in the upgradation of city infrastructure on an unprecedented scale,” it added.