GoM takes stock of CWG progress, discusses ceremonies

A day after CGF President Michael Fennell’s criticism over delay in construction of venues, the Group of Ministers for the Commonwealth Games met to take stock of the progress.

New Delhi: A day after CGF President Michael Fennell’s criticism over delay in construction of venues, the Group of Ministers for the Commonwealth Games today met to take stock of the progress and was given a presentation on the opening and closing ceremonies of the mega event.

The GoM, which meets virtually every week to keep a tab on the progress on various fronts, was given a detailed presentation on the opening and closing ceremonies by the core team set up for the purpose. “Today’s meeting was largely devoted to the opening and closing ceremonies and the creative director Bharat Bala and members of the core team Javed Akhtar, Prasoon Joshi and Shyam Benegal gave a presentation,” a source told reporters. The GoM also took stock of the various projects related to the October 3-14 Games to be held in the capital. Asked specifically whether Fennell’s concerns over delay in construction of stadia was taken up for discussion, the source said, “It was not discussed. Only the opening and closing ceremonies were the main topics today.”The meeting, which lasted for close to two hours, was chaired by Urban Development minister S Jaipal Reddy and was attended by Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Sports Minister MS Gill and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Chairman of the Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi was also invited to the meeting to brief the members on his meetings with CGF president Fennell and on the overall progress of the Games projects. The core group members for the opening and closing ceremonies gave their views on how to make the event a success. The CGF had taken a strong view of the delays in the construction work although it had noted that a significant progress has been made in the last couple of months. Fennell, who is currently on an inspection tour, was critical on the delay of construction works and warned the organising committee that further delays would have an impact on the conduct of test events and overlay installation. “We have continuously received assurances on the delivery timelines for these projects, and to now hear that there are further delays is distressing,” Fennell said on Saturday. “These delays will have impact upon the OC’s operational planning, particularly in relation to conduct of test events and overlay installation. “There can be no further delays and I was pleased to receive directly from the Sports Minster Dr Gill, his assurance today, that the venues will not encounter any further delays,” he said. Fennell expressed great disappointment at the Coordination Commission’s report on the delayed delivery of the venues and particularly how far the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and S P Mukherjee Swimming Complex were behind the schedule. PTI