CWG: Big fat wedding without groom -09/08/2010

09/08/2010

CWG: Big fat wedding without groom

(SHRI KIRTI AAZAADJI, FIRST TIME ASIA IS HOSTING A 'COMMONWEALTH GAMES'. DEMAND OF 'JPC' IS RIGHT, AS EVEN PEOPLE INDULGED IN CORRUPTION SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT IMPORTANCE OF CWG HELD IN ASIA FOR FIRST TIME. IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN THAT AT THE TIME OF GAMES GOING ON LACK OF INFRASTUCTURE/IMPORTANT FACILITIES/MEDICAL EQUIPMENTS AND RELATED FACILITIES/SECURITIES/FIRE BRIGADES/FOOD/HOSPITALITY/OPENING-CLOSING CEREMONIES FUNCTIONS PREPARATIONS...IT MUST REFLECT OUR RICH ART/CULTURE/AND HERITAGE...WE DON'T MIND A PINCH OF FILMY REMIXES...AS WE DO HAVE GOOD QUALITY WORK OVER THERE..ETC)!!!.... BUT MUST CO OPERATE FOR THE HONOUR AND PRESTIGE OF OUR COUNTRY...OR SHOULD I SAY..ASIA!!)

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party Monday demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Commonwealth Games scam.


Equating the Games to a "big fat Indian wedding without the groom", the BJP's Kirti Azad said it should not be called the Commonwealth Games but the "Corrupt Games".

"The stadia are incomplete. Where would the marriage be held?," he asked, while participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the delay in the preparations for the Oct 3-14 mega event.

He alleged that there was lack of co-ordination among the ministries and government agencies in creating the infrastructure for the games.

"It is a very sorry state of affairs. Nobody has taken responsibility. The work is in a shambles. Incomplete stadia stare us in the face," Azad said.

Alleging a scam of thousands of crores of rupees in developing the infrastructure for the Games, he said a JPC probe should be held to unearth the truth.



Trinamool Congress seeks PM's statement on CWG scam

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the second largest party in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) said Monday it "will be satisfied" if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes a statement in the Lok Sabha that "anybody found guilty of Commonwealth Games corruption will not be spared".



Referring to media reports on the allegations of financial irregularities in organising the Games, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, while participating in a Lok Sabha debate on the issue, asked: "Who are actually involved in the scam?"

He said many questions have been raised on the issue.



"This issue has to be clarified on the floor of the house. All of us are concerned," Badyopadhyay said.

"Who actually holds the financial powers," he asked.

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) is alleged to have paid AM Films, an Indian-owned firm in London, over 450,000 pounds for services during last year's Queen's Baton Relay inaugural without proper tendering and paperwork.



Two aides of CGOC chief Suresh Kalmadi were suspended after an enquiry found that an e-mail from the Indian High Commission in London on the basis of which the firm was allegedly hired was tampered with.

This apart, CGOC treasurer Anil Khanna quit in the wake of allegations that his son's firm was unduly favoured in ordering the synthetic turf for the tennis stadium for the Games.

Audit watchdog Comptroller and Auditor General of India has also commented adversely on the cost overruns for the stadia being built or refurbished for the Oct 3-14 Games.

Source: IANS