New Delhi:
The Union Government has formed a committee of senior officials to oversee the preparation of stadiums for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), virtually stripping the Organising Committee (OC) chairman, Suresh Kalmadi, of all his key powers.
But the Organising Committee Chairman rebutted that his wings have been clipped.
"There are some news reports that 10 government officers have come. Yes, they have come but at our request. The Organising Committee made a request because it's now fag end of the Games and we need a lot of people. These 10 officers are there to coordinate; they have not come to take over the OC. You keep saying Kalamadi's wings are being clipped. You know I was a former Air Force pilot. The Organising Committee is moving along. All the ministries have supported us so far and they are going to support us for the next few days," Kalmadi said while addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.
His remarks come in the wake of the Cabinet Secretariat's decision to appoint officers of the rank of Joint and Additional Secretaries to oversee the progress of the construction of stadiums. Each of them has been given responsibility of one stadium. Their job is to ensure that work completes on time for the Games. They have been asked to report directly to the cabinet secretary.
These are a few of the key appointments made for the next one month:
- JS Deepak, Joint Secretary (Commerce) will look after the Games village
- Subodh Kumar, Additional Secretary to look after all the connectivity issues
- RC Mishra to look after Indira Gandhi stadium & urban development issues
- SR Rao, Additional Secretary to look after Jawaharlal Nehru stadium
- Shashi Shekhar will look after the Delhi University complex
- Gopal Krishna to look after the Dhyanchand stadium and theTyagraj stadium
- Rohit Nandan to look after the RK Khanna Tennis Complex and the Siri Fort complex
- Amarjeet Singh to look after Yamuna Sports Complex
With just 45 days to go for the Games, the government wants to ensure that all pending projects are completed without any further delays and hiccups.
Earlier, the government had clipped Kalmadi's wings by forming a group of ministers headed by Union Minister of Urban Development Jaipal Reddy to oversee all work related to CWG.