Prakash Kumar

Mr. Azeem Premji has spoken out – so have others notably Mani Shankar Aiyer againt New Delhi hosting CWG. Marred by corruption, withdrawal of key athlete, dissension in organization, delay in facility construction, poor state of Indian sports, gross loot of tax payer money, trafic snarls and last but not the least the timing (monsoon). It probably would have been better had the event not been at this time and for sure not at this venue as Delhi is gearing up to face imminent flood as Yamuna crossed and stayed above danger mark. Major part of the NCR hub is cut off from one another and water has entered low areas. Malaria, Dengue and other water borne diseases have taken over what otherwise should have been the centre stage of Sports.

Initial budget estimated for hosting CWG games was around Rs. 650 crores –but that is history. Current expenditure stands in excess of Rs 11,000 crores and growing as additional efforts are required to meet deadlines which have ran out of time to fix them. If additional investments to add to the Delhi infrastructure is added like opening up of a new airport terminal, new metro- routes, modernization of old bridges, construction of roads and flyovers the expenditure is around Rs 27,000 crores + to host the some 5 day grand sporting spectacle.

India, still remain a developing Country, 63 years since its indepence and Wipro Chairman might be just right that the probably the Country was not prepared as yet to host the event of this size and certain priorities are misplaced. India, as a Country has never been known for clean administration but the way first IPL corruption cropped up and now this CWG thing, we better clean up our linen because it is all getting embarassing globally because these are global events and image of Country will take a serious beating. All investment be in a multiple lakh flower pots or a tread mill are being investigated threadbare by media, law agency, citizens at large and global press. It is all looking serioulsly deplorable. Immediate action of self cleansing is required by CWG, HI, IPL, BCCI and similar sporting organization in India coupled with strong words and action by Indian government now – else all these has the potential to jeopardize future holding of events of repute in this Country.

Who’s- who of Indian Politics, corporate, bureaurcray and glamour otherwise known for their good management skills have ended up setting up an institutions which is marred by gross level corruption of heavenly magnitude. All these continue to prosper as our beloved Prime Minister maintains a lip lock silence. Silence is golden but silence is also acceptance. It is high time Govt, machinery steps in to save India’s grace – if not face. Someone needs to speak up now or their could not be a tommorrow to speak.

President Obama, tried his level best to bring the Olympics to Chicago – it is a pride that global events are organized in ones’ Country – while CWG cannot match an Olympics the prestige is there and a successful launch is a good starting point for bidding for Olympics in future. Question however is why Delhi? – Answer is why Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata? – None of these cities can afford further crowd pressure not even for a day. If 27,000 crores were to be spent why not make another sporting city – near a big city. We could as well have had another mini-metro a Commonwealth village with that amount of money. Tough questions needs to be asked – do we really needed to build that second terminal at Delhi? If yes, why not make it say at Chandigarh – make an expansive terminal at Chandigarh. Many companies would have moved their bringing jobs and prosperity. It is high time we stop putting extra pressure on burnt Indian metropolis.

Azeem Premji thinks Rs 27,000 crore is waste – he is right and wrong? Right because it is wasted – wrong because for a Country like India Rs 27,000 crore is not so big, the investment amount is Ok, but the investment is in wrong place. India should be encouraged to host these global sporting extravaganza and spend these 27,000 crores everytime – but with all these investments, let a new city be created which brings Wipro to town with ultramodern facilities, less troubled commute, good environment, low cost realty, available of labor who is tolerant than job hoppers of metropolis. The type of employment it will generate will pay back Rs 27,000 crore in no time. This is the ultimate path which India needs to travel to get recognzied as a develped Country. Developed Countries look outward more- they need to organize global events and invest for societal changes at large.

India,  has been looted of its wealth once before its independence as its Kohinoor and similar priceless treasure lie elsewere but, lets not such a thing happen again through internal forces. Wealth of this Country belongs to its entire population and few handpicked cannot have the 80-20 rule working in their favour. Some Swiss accounts needs to be audited, for whatever it takes. India’s wealth is not for Swiss Bank lockers. Common man is asking the administrators of this Country to be better managers than money eaters