Central govt should have been more involved in CWG: Buta Singh

Sun, Sep 12 10 03:53 PM

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Former Home Minister Buta Singh, who headed the Special Organising Committee for the 1982 Asian Games, feels this year''s Commonwealth Games would not have had to grapple with so many controversies had the central government been more involved in preparations. "We could have done better than the 1982 Asian Games. Just reading the report on the preparations of that time would have been enough to avoid the current situation. Like the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the central government should have been more involved in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games," Singh told ''PTI-Bhasha''. The October 3 to 14 Commonwealth Games have been marred by construction delays and allegations of widescale corruption and Singh felt it was avoidable. "The government has woken up late in this case. I wonder why nobody thought of getting Rahul Gandhi involved in the preparations like his father Rajiv did in the 1982," he said. Recalling his stint in the Special Organising Committee, Singh said India managed to put on a grand show due to the personal initiatives taken by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. "Indira ji gave us cabinet-level authority and our decisions were final and never challenged by anyone. We had dynamic people like Arun Nehru and Arun Singh in the panel and Rajiv ji led the preparations," he said. India bagged the hosting rights of the Asiad in 1977 but the then Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh refused to host the event citing paucity of funds. The Games preparations were completed within 16 months after Indira returned to power. On the other hand, the CWG preparations are still to be completed despite the fact that the organisers won the bid seven years ago. "Our committee had army officials who were very punctual. We brought up eight stadiums in 16 months and repaired 10 others. The Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Associaton had better coordination. Not a single corruption allegation came up against us," he said.

Source: Published>