Unhappy with the delay and the last-minute rush to fix things relating to the Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday came down heavily on sports minister M.S. Gill and urban development minister Jaipal Reddy, asking them to “get the job done”.
The PM pulled up the two ministers at a meeting of the Union Cabinet where Mr Gill wanted to make a presentation on the status of CWG preparations and Mr Reddy pointed at the CWG Organising Committee (OC) for the current mess.
Sources revealed that as soon as Mr Gill evinced interest in making a presentation to his Cabinet colleagues, saying this could be the last meeting before the Games commence, the PM intervened and said enough had already been said on the issue and that it was now time to act and get the job done.
Snubbing Mr Gill, the PM is believed to have said, “Forum of the Cabinet is not required to discuss the Commonwealth Games. The matter was discussed yesterday.”
Mr Reddy, whose ministry is responsible for most Games-related infrastructure projects, also faced Dr Singh’s ire over sloppy work at stadia, cleanliness at the Games Village and for the foot overbridge that fell down near the main venue, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Sources said that when Mr Reddy tried to defend Mr Gill by pointing at the OC, the PM asked whether the CPW and DDA work under the Games committee. It is learnt that the PM also expressed concern at the lack of coordination among different agencies involved in CWG preparations. He told his Cabinet colleagues that the country’s image is being tarnished and now is not the appropriate time to indulge in a blame-game.
However, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s office Prithviraj Chavan officially read out a statement saying Dr Singh has directed all those involved with Games preparations to ensure everything is fixed in time and the mega sporting event becomes a grand success.
The ruling Congress, too, expressed dismay over glitches in Games preparations. It said those involved in the process should not have given others a chance to point fingers at the country. When asked to comment on the CWG mess, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “Preferably, we should not have given a chance to anybody to point a finger at us. But now the priority is that all stakeholders should pull out all the stops to ensure the Games’ grand success.”
Later in the evening, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Michael Fennell met Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekar. In the hour-long meeting at the Cabinet Secretariat, the officials took stock of preparations. Mr Fennell is understood to have discussed issues relating to the concerns of various participating countries about sanitation and other problems in the living quarters at the Games Village and security issues. Sources said he had been told there was nothing to worry about as everything would be in place. OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi was also present at the meeting along with senior Delhi government officials.