Kalmadi’s wings clipped, 10 officials in CWG panel

In a move reflecting the deep concern in the government over the Commonwealth Games, the role of the Suresh Kalmadi-led Organizing Committee has been further constricted, with the Centre deputing 10 senior officials to oversee critical aspects of the Games.

On his part, Kalmadi said at a press conference that they had been sent on his request - he had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for officials to help out the OC and cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar had obliged.

While Kalmadi argued that the officials would not be taking over the Games, it was difficult to avoid the impression that the OC's powers had been overridden as the senior bureaucrats are empowered to take on-the-spot decisions. What does work to the beleaguered Kalmadi's benefit is that the new entrants will take some of the heat off him.

The decision to depute officials on Games duty came just a day after Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) chief Michael Fennell arrived in Delhi for a last-minute inspection. On Thursday, Fennel gave a thumbs-up to the Games but the Centre did not seem willing to take any chances, moving in on day-to-day work.

A marathon meeting convened by the PM on August 14 had empowered a committee headed by the cabinet secretary to coordinate and oversee OC's functioning while the group of ministers (GoM) under urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy was asked to clear policy and other issues expeditiously. Now the 10 officials are another direct intervention in the Games' preparations.

The officers have not only been assigned venues but also key functional areas like telecommunications and broadcasting as well as procurement. This is in addition to a sub-committee, called the fast-track committee, set up earlier last week comprising senior officials on deputation to the OC.

For the past week, this committee has been meeting to expedite and administer various Games-related functions along with top OC brass including secretary-general Lalit Bhanot and director-general V K Verma.

The 10-member committee comprises central government officials from a range of ministries including urban development, telecom, information technology, civil aviation and the cabinet secreteriat. The officers have been assigned venues including the various stadiums, Games Village and the much-delayed Yamuna sports complex under Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

The officers will be reporting to the cabinet secretary and their mandate is now pretty simple - to ensure whatever is needed is done to complete the venues in time for the Games which are now barely one-and-a-half months away.

The new set of officials will work along with the fast-track committee even as Kalmadi said the development was routine procedure, saying, "Yes, they (the 10 officials) have come but at our request. The OC had made a request that at the fag-end of the Games we need a lot of people. We had requested the PM and the cabinet secretary has been kind enough to give us the 10 officers. They are here for coordination."