CWG expense pegged at Rs 10,000 cr

Laying to rest speculation that the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 budget has overshot, CWG Director General V K Verma on Wednesday said that the entire estimated cost of the games was Rs 10,000-crore.

“The (speculated) CWG cost is a myth. The entire cost of the Games is Rs 10,000 crore, which is USD 2 billion as compared to the USD 28 billion spent by China during the (Beijing) Olympics,” Verma said addressing a gathering at the India International Sports Summit in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Out of the Rs 10,000-crore while Rs 2,000-crore will be spent on hospitality, the rest of the money would be spent on building infrastructure like flyovers and stadiums, which is there to last, he said.

Verma said that if India expects to host the Olympics in the near future, they should start laying the platform from now.

“The time has come to show the world that India is capable of hosting a mega event,” he said.

Verma, who is also the vice-president of World Badminton Federation, said that India got an opportunity to host the World Badminton Championship, following the popularity of the game in the country and the success the country achieved in the sport.

“According to a survey, India is the second largest badminton playing nation with 1.7-million players. India languished at the 27-28 position eight years ago but have now rose to seventh position,” he added.

‘WC was a good experience’Notwithstanding their dismal show at the World Cup, Indian hockey captain Rajpal Singh said it was a learning experience for his team. “We may have lost in the World cup, but the players after getting lot of experience from the tournament are now looking at the Asian games ahead,” Rajpal said.

“Our focus now is Asian games,” he said adding that the players are now looking at the CommonWealth Games as a preparatory tournament for the team.

Stalemate continues over beef

A day after Delhi Development Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan assured the State Assembly that no permission would be given to serve beef be it the Commonwealth Games or any other occasion, the war of words between the Congress and the BJP on the issue refuses to die down.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Yoganand Shastri sought an explanation from Leader of Opposition V. K. Malhotra on two Privilege Motions moved under Rule 66 by Congress MLAs Hari Shanker Gupta and Rajesh Lilothia on the issue of serving of beef during the Commonwealth Games.

In his notice, Mr. Gupta had stated that the Leader of Opposition had given pre-mature publicity to issues which were to be raised in the House and had thus committed a violation.

In this regard, the Speaker in his ruling said as per “Kaul and Shakder – Practice and Procedure of Parliament”, it has been stated that “giving of premature publicity to various matters connected with the business of the House is an act of impropriety”.

Stating that the House follows high parliamentary norms and traditions, Dr. Shastri said every member should follow these practices. He said Prof. Malhotra has been asked to give his version in the matter.

On March 19 the issue of supply of beef during the Commonwealth Games was first raised by Prof. Malhotra in the House. He had cited a statement allegedly made by Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta. Mr. Mehta had clarified that Leader of the MCD House Subhash Arya had asserted that MCD would not permit beef to be served in the Games Village.

When asked by the media, he had stated that “catering service contracts are being arranged by the Organising Committee in the Games Village and the issue is between the OC, the contractor who is selected for running the kitchen in the Games Village and the MCD which is supposed to give permission under the municipal laws.'' Mr Mehta had also clarified that the Delhi Government had nothing to do with it.

Thereafter BJP had persisted with the issue and had on Monday brought a Privilege Motion against Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Congress MLA Subhash Chopra for their earlier statements on the issue. Prof. Malhotra said it was wrong to say that the matter was for the MCD or the OC to decide as the Delhi Government should as per law appoint a Board to curb sale of beef. “You do not have knowledge of the Act when you have the power to implement it,'' he added. Raj Kumar Chauhan had then assured the House that “no permission will be given to serve beef”.

People must pitch in

The Delhi government has said: read my lips, a few more taxes. And it's justified its budget, which also includes an LPG subsidy withdrawal, by saying incoming revenue would go into building infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games (CWG). Tomorrow other state CMs may follow Sheila Dikshit's lead, calling on taxpayers to help develop cities hosting prestigious tournaments. What's wrong with that? It's argued that outlays already exist for sporting events and governments should stick to budgets. That makes no allowances for the fact human institutions aren't perfect. Households and businesses often don't live and trade within their means. Why should it be different for governments?

In an ideal world, the authorities would never exceed spending estimates nor ask the public to pitch in when calculations go awry. But, in reality, the best-laid plans can be marred by unforeseen circumstances, such as a slowdown impacting tax collections or building activity. As for poor planning and project delays, let's not be naive. In India, that's par for the course. If ports and airports modernisation or road and highway building can take decades, not just years, why single out CWG's run-up? Staging sporting dos is a challenge not only in the developing world. Other nations have learnt this the hard way, like Greece with the Athens Olympics or the US with the Atlanta edition.

The aam aadmi is the ultimate beneficiary of the work his political representatives do, such as creating good civic amenities. Don't Delhiites still enjoy the fruits of the development and beautification drive that took place before the Asiad? The same applies to CWG: we'll access better roads, flyovers, transportation, parks, stadiums, hotels and upgraded facilities like road signs and streetlights. Surely we're all stakeholders here. We often talk about desired community participation in India's development. So why make a ruckus when asked to put our money where our mouth is?

Don't penalise citizens

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has blamed the Commonwealth Games for the higher taxes proposed in the recent state budget. This can be a test case for other state governments as well. What happens when cities plan high-impact events that will upgrade their infrastructure, but discover at the last moment that they haven't been quite successful? Are they justified in calling on citizens to cough up more money? Delhi's example suggests that they aren't.

We need better urban infrastructure, for sure. That's the right of citizens and providing it is the job of the government. The logic behind taxation is that the state will collect taxes from citizens and build and run public utilities. The city's bid for the Commonwealth Games was seen as an opportunity to expand urban facilities. Financial outlays were made accordingly and funds provided by various agencies, including the Union government. These funds, let's not forget, were provided by taxpayers.

Now, the state government has overshot its budget for the games. It needs to raise more money, and fast. How did this mess-up happen? This isn't a case of bad budgeting. There is a funds shortage because of the inefficiency of the government. Deadlines were set for the completion of works, which included building new stadiums, roads, hotels etc while refurbishing and revamping existing ones. But state agencies failed to meet them. As projects lagged, inflationary pressures kicked in and costs soared. Surely, citizens aren't to be blamed for the delays. Nor must they be penalised with more taxes. What if cities expected to host the upcoming cricket World Cup insist that citizens pay more taxes to facilitate the show? Dikshit and her finance minister have got their economics mixed up. The Delhi government has set a bad precedent.

Security for CWG a big concern: M.S. Gill

Union Sports Minister M.S. Gill Wednesday said India was not leaving any stone unturned in providing foolproof security during Commonwealth Games in Delhi in Delhi.

‘Security is a big concern of us. We have spent Rs.350 crore on CCTV cameras that will be installed across the city. We do not want to leave any stone unturned as far as security is concerned,’ Gill told reporters after inaugurating the Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games here.

The minister said big events like the Hockey World Cup, and the Commonwealth shooting, archery and boxing championships had provided opportunities to have a test run of security.

He said the shooting range was ready in 14 months, and by April most of the venues will be ready except for the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue which will host the opening, closing ceremonies beside the athletics competition.

‘We hope that it will be ready by June,’ he said.

Referring to the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, which hosted the Hockey World Cup recently, he said: ‘It is one of the best in the world and got a lot of praise from the participating nations.’

On the national hockey team, that finished eighth in the world cup, Gill said the players needed to overcome factionalism.

‘We have imparted the best facilities, training, and best coach (Jose Brassa). But they should play with unity. There should not be factionalism among them. If they play united, I will be very happy irrespective of their performance,’ he said.

The government must ensure social security for labourers

Harsh Mander in Love’s labour lost (March 18) rightly exposed the hypocrisy of the Delhi government in its exploitative treatment of construction workers. While crores are being spent on the upcoming Games, those toiling to build the infrastructure needed for the sporting extravaganza are denied even the official minimum wages. It is ridiculous that no social security benefits have been given to these workers. It is time that the issues of unsafe working conditions, non-registration of workers and denial of social security, including accident compensation, are addressed by the government for the welfare of these labourers.
Sujata Madhok, Delhi

Mayawati rules the roost
Ajoy Bose’s article Comeback queen (March 22) made for interesting reading. Bose is right in pointing out that the BSP chief Mayawati is still ruling the roost in Uttar Pradesh. The hue and cry over her displaying wealth comes across as an attempt by her detractors to divert attention from her political achievements. With all the political pundits predicting Mayawati’s dismal political future, the fact remains that the BSP is still ruling the biggest state in India. Be it the by-elections or the council polls, Mayawati has been emerging stronger each time when faced with political challenges.
Rukhsana Khan, Lucknow

Delhiites to pay more for Games
The report To pay for the Games (March 23) comes as a budget surprise for all Delhiites. As if rising prices of essential commodities were not enough, we now have to pay more for celebrating the coming Commonwealth Games. The increase in the prices of LPG, CNG and diesel will only add fuel to fire and lead to widespread public discontentment. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit could definitely have thought of better ways to deal with the Commonwealth Games expenses than burdening the common man for it. As long as corruption rules the workings of the government, the public will
continue to suffer.
Prem Singh, Noida

In the name of the Commonwealth Games, the aam aadmi is being bled by the so-called elected democratic government. Sheila Dikshit’s announcement that Delhiites have to pay more for the Games is unjustified. We are citizens of a country where scores of people are dying for want of food and here we are blatantly displaying the finer side of life for a sporting event. The government should deal with the more pressing problems of hunger and poverty that confront us today.
Deepak Ahuja,

Commonwealth Games 2010 expense is Rs 10,000 crore: Verma

Laying to rest speculation that the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 budget has overshot, CWG Director General VK Verma on Wednesday said that the entire estimated cost of the games was Rs 10,000-crore.

"The (speculated) CWG cost is a myth. The entire cost of the Games is Rs 10,000 crore, which is $2 billion as compared to the $28 billion spent by China during the (Beijing) Olympics," Verma said addressing a gathering at the India International Sports Summit on Wednesday.

Out of the Rs 10,000-crore while Rs 2,000-crore will be spent on hospitality, the rest of the money would be spent on building infrastructure like flyovers and stadiums, which is there to last, he said.

Verma said that if India expects to host the Olympics in the near future, they should start laying the platform from now. "The time has come to show the world that India is capable of hosting a mega event," he said.

Verma, who is also the vice-president of World Badminton Federation, said that India got an opportunity to host the World Badminton Championship, following the popularity of the game in the country and the success the country achieved in the sport.

"According to a survey, India is the second largest badminton playing nation with 1.7-million players. India languished at the 27-28 position eight years ago but have now rose to seventh position," he added.

Commonwealth Games preparations are on track: Gill

Union Sports Minister M S Gill today said the preparations for this October Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are going on in full swing.

He said barring the main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, where opening ceremony will be held on October 3, all other stadia are to be completed by the end of April.

The main stadium, where football and other events will also be held, is expected to be completed in another two months time, by June end, he added. Mr Gill was addressing the sportspersons at the Netaji Indoor Stadium where he also opened the 3rd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games, in which some 400 athletes from Bengal and Bangladesh will vie for medals in 10 diciplines in 10 venues in the next three days.

He said the hockey stadium was an outstanding architecture, which was appreciated by the participating nations in the recently-concluded hockey World Cup at the major Dhyan Chand statement in New Delhi.

On security aspects during the Commonwealth Games between October 3-14, Gill said, the government already spent about Rs 350 crore for setting up of close circuit cameras in the national capital to watch movement of people or any suspect.. ''Though the sum sounds hefty for a poor country like India, the government has prioritised the security aspect to ensure safety of its people and delegates from other countries,'' the sports minister added.

He said the government had already tested the security system during the recently-concluded four international events which include World Cup field hockey, Commonwealth shooting and Commonwealth Boxing championships. Though there were some comments from certain quarters regarding strict security for crowd as well as sportspersons everybody appreciated successfullly organising of the big events.

On India's performance in the World Cup hockey, Gill said the country stood eighth despite the government's all out effort for improving the standard of games including hiring chief coach from abroad.

Gill, however, stressed unity among the players and officials for improvement in the standard of hockey and said groupism would only harm the reputation of India and doom the prospect of the game.

Regarding two new franchises of IPL T20, he said he would not comment on cricket now.

The sports minister also assured to look into grievances of Archeri Association of India regarding inadequate equipment despite sanctioning of Rs 2 crore for buying gadgets.

Earlier in the day, Gill formally opened an astro turf for hockey at SAI complex at Salt Lake.

British security experts to help Indian forces during Games

Britain will send a high-level team of security experts to New Delhi during the Commonwealth Games this year to assist the Indian security forces, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said.

"They (UK) are going to send a team to assist Indian forces for the Commonwealth Games. I said yes," Chidambaram, who was in the UK on an official visit, said last night before leaving for home.

Chidambaram said issues related to police cooperation and security of Commonwealth Games figured during his meeting with his British counterpart Alan Johnson.

"We discussed co-operation. He suggested an MoU on police co-operation. I said yes. There is nothing wrong with the MoU, but we must have more practical cooperation."

"There are a number of areas where we can co-operate at practical levels between the agencies, forensic science labs, our scientists and technicians can get a chance to work with their scientists and technicians," the Home Minister, who also met Foreign Secretary David Miliband, said.

After the meeting yesterday, Johnson said he had a productive meeting with Chidambaram "where we discussed a range of issues including counter-terrorism, migration, organised crime and police cooperation."

Chidambaram also had a meeting with the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Advisor Simon McDonald.

"They had a constructive discussion on a range of bilateral and foreign policy issues, building on the strong UK-India relationship," a Downing Street spokesman said.

The Home Minister also had indepth discussions with chiefs of key counter-terrorism and security institutions including Mi5 and Mi6, Britain's internal and external intelligence agencies and the Scotland Yard.

We have the talent, only need better infrastructure: P T Usha

Former sprint queen P T Usha today remained positive about the outlook for sports in the country, saying that she was confident of Indian sportspersons wil win a lot more gold medals in the future.
India does not lack talent, only this talent needs to be groomed properly. Better infrastructure and good training should be provided to them, she said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the two-day India International Sports Summit which began today.

Usha also did not think that a Kochi-based IPL squad that had been bought at the new bidding process for over Rs 1500 crore would kill athletics in her home state. ''Nothing will happen to athletes in Kerala due to IPL,'' she averred. She also visualised her prodigy Tintu Luka as a medal prospect in the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China later this year. ''One of my students, Tintu Luka, has done well. She was the number one junior Asian athlete and was ranked ninth junior athlete in the world in 800m. Besides, she also won a silver medal at the Asian Junior Athletic Championship in Jakarta,'' the 45-year-old Usha said. ''We are confident that she (Luka) will win a medal not just in the Commonwealth Games but also in the Asian Games,'' she added.

''We can expect medals in shooting, weightlifting (at the Games).

Hopefully we can win some medals in athletics too,'' the Indian track legend told reporters.

Usha said the Commonwealth Games in October will be helpful in the development of sporting infrastructure in the country. ''Because of Commonwealth Games sports infrastructure will develop in the country. However, the situation is improving now. When I started there was only one synthetic track in Patiala but now the number is increasing,'' she said.

Usha, who narrowly missed a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, felt that with better infrastructure and training the country's sportspersons would be more successful at the Olympics.

Usha, who runs a school for athletes, said she had started the institution to fulfil her dream of winning a Olympic medal. ''I missed an Olympic medal by a whisker. But I want to produce students who can win them,'' she said. While appreciating the help from the state government in providing land and a nominal sum, Usha said much more needed to be done to improve infrastructure in her home state.

''The Kerala government has provided me 30 acres of land and Rs 20 lakhs. But that money is hardly enough. We built a mud track with that money, but we need more synthetic tracks. We need at least four of them,'' she said. ''I have also received help from (cue ace) Geet Sethi's organisation (Olympic Gold Quest). They have provided us with a high-tech gymnasium. But we don't have a building to keep it in,'' she explained. ''Result-wise, we (Kerala) may be the number one in the country but infrastructure-wise we are still lacking,'' Usha rued.

Despite Qaeda threat, New Zealand set to axe psychologist for Delhi Games

New Zealand is set to axe the psychologist from its Commonwealth Games team despite an Al Qaeda threat looming large over the championship to be held in New Delhi
.
In February, al Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri had threatened to target the Delhi Commonwealth Games, the ongoing Indian Premier League
cricket matches and the now successfully concluded Hockey World Cup.

Soon after its threat, New Zealand hockey star striker Simon Child pulled out of the World Cup in Delhi, saying: "The heightened security does not create an ideal high performance environment".

While the final composition of the support team has yet to be announced, the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) has decided against sending a psychologist on the tour.

The NZOC's decision to take its athletes to Delhi without a mental safety net has been labelled as an irresponsible move by mental health specialists.

Sports psychologists learned, who learned the decision only last Friday, have expressed disappointment at NZOC's decision.

"This could be the one Games where mental health support is vital. It would be irresponsible not to have some mental health support in place, should there be threats to athletes, or a crisis occur," Stuff.co.nz quoted one psychologist, as saying.

"Delhi will be a difficult, distracting and unsettling environment, and athletes will need every tool available if they are to produce their best," she added.

Meanwhile, NZOC communications adviser Ashley Abbott has said that no decision had been made on who would be in the Games support team, with the final call depending on how many athletes were selected.

BJP slams Delhi government for imposing fresh taxes

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a demonstration outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to protest against increase in prices of essential items and imposition of Value Added Tax on items of daily use.

Carrying placards and an eight-foot-high cut-out of a milk bottle, a large number of activists gathered outside the Chief Minister's residence and shouted slogans against her.

Addressing the protesters, senior BJP leader Vijay Goel accused the Delhi Government of delaying projects related to the Commonwealth Games and then awarding them to a few favoured contractors through work orders instead of tendering process.Common man is being robbed in the name of Commonwealth Games. Sheila Dikshit government has become the government of privileged few. Money is being squandered away in the name of Commonwealth Games. The money is being spent wrongly, there is mismanagement and above all there is rampant corruption. Corruption is to the tune of millions and billions of rupees that must be probed," Goel said.

The Delhi Government in its annual Budget
raised the value added tax to 20 percent from the current 12.5 percent to finance an additional expenditure of rupees 11 billion, mainly to finance
the ensuing Commonwealth Games being stage in New Delhi.

The Delhi Government also withdrew the subsidy of rupees 40 on LPG cylinders and levied a five percent VAT on CNG.