After CWG, Pune demands probe in CYG

The embattled Commonwealth Games organiser, Suresh Kalmadi’s woes just don’t seem to end. Now, there is a demand in his home constituency, Pune, that the accounts of the Commonwealth Youth Games, held in Pune in 2008 — also led by Mr Kalmadi — be reopened. The CYG had to be held in Pune because facilities in Delhi were not ready.

Along with the CYG accounts, there are other events with which Mr Kalmadi, Pune’s sitting MP, is associated with. The Pune International Marathon and the Pune International Film Festival are two others and there is a demand that grants these events received from the relevant departments be checked, too.

Responding to these demands, the state’s finance minister, Sunil Tatkare, said he will get the details from the concerned departments and take action in the next 15 days. “I am going to ask all the departments, like sports and culture, to submit all receipts and accounts. Every department must follow the guidelines laid down and I will ensure that these are enforced when it comes to auditing accounts,” Mr Tatkare told reporters at a hurriedly called press meet. However, there was no pre-determined agenda for the meet.

Among the events for which the state government gives grants are literary meets and the accounts of these have also either not been submitted or have been submitted in brief. In the case of the CYG, the bill for Rs 425 crore is on one sheet of paper and over Rs 300 crore comes under the single head `infrastructure’ , the minister said indicating indifferent approach of the organisers in maintaining accounts.

Mr Tatkare, incidentally, belongs to the NCP headed Mr Kalmadi’s mentorturned-arch foe—Sharad Pawar. In a rather curious turn of events, the CWG issue has brought two of Kalmadi’s bete noires—Mr Pawar and former chief minister and the minister for heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh—together . Mr Deshmukh’s last week said that none of the PSUs under his ministry will join the list of sponsors for the CWG.