Aiyar suggests high-power body to salvage Games

Invokes planning of the 1982 Asian Games, says a special committee may just be the answer

PTI | August 4, 2010



After attacking the holding of Commonwealth Games, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar today suggested that a high-level committee be formed to ensure that a "clean and successful" event is held.

"Let us have a high-level apex committee to which all the agencies including the Organising Committee will be responsible. We may still get a clean Game and a successful one," Aiyar told reporters outside Parliament.

Asked whether OC Chief Suresh Kalmadi should resign, he said, "I have given a constructive suggestion and I have not said Kalmadi should be removed from the OC."

He said the Australia government had also set a high-level committee during the Sydney Olympics.

"What was done at Sydney Olympics was done exactly by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Asiad 1982 when a Special Organising Committee was set up with Buta Singh as Chairman and the Cabinet passed a resolution through which all the concerned ministers were empowered to give sanctions," Aiyar said.

Referring to Rajiv Gandhi, he said, "Then a back bencher called Rajiv Gandhi who happened to be the son of the Prime Minister was inducted into that Special Organising Committee. He brought along with him a number of young and dynamic people.

"Between them they organised the Games where there was no scandal and it was a total success," he said.

"So my suggestion is even now if the high-level apex committee is formed along the lines of the Special Organising Committee we can still have a very clean and successful games."

He, however, said, "I do not know whether it will be accepted or not."

Asked whether Rahul Gandhi should be inducted in the high-level committee, he said "It is for the government to decide whom to include in the committee.

The 69-year-old politician, a stern critic of the Delhi Games, had recently created a furore by saying that he would be unhappy if the CWG were a success and that only "evil" would support such an event.

Soon after his unsavoury remarks, Aiyar pledged that he will not speak on the Games till it is over but rejected reports that he was asked by his party seniors to keep mum on the subject.

He also said his outburst against the Commonwealth Games has opened up "a can of worms" which was evident from the alleged corruption charges that have rocked the October 3-14 sporting extravaganza.
 

Comments

 

Other News

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said.   He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter