New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on Tuesday directed the Sports Ministry to fine-tune coordination
among various agencies involved in next year's Commonwealth
Games amid growing concerns that the country was not
adequately prepared to host the mega sporting event.
Singh took stock of the various ongoing projects in an
hour-long review meeting attended by Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit, Union Sports Minister M S Gill and Planning
Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia among
others.
"After the review meeting, the prime minister asked
the sports minister to coordinate with Indian Olympic
Association officials to fine-tune preparations," a PMO source
said after the meeting.
Briefing the Prime Minister about the status of
various projects undertaken by her government for the Games,
Dikshit gave an assurance that all efforts are being taken to
make the sporting extravaganza a great success and that all
the projects will be completed well in time.
The review meeting comes nearly a month after
Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennel sought
Singh's intervention to put things in order as it appeared
that much of the crucial infrastructure projects will miss the
2010 October deadline.
After the review meeting with the Prime Minister,
Dikshit and Gill met Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy
and discussed various aspects and projects related to the
Games and the progress of each of them.
Gill described the meeting with Reddy as "regular".
Asked about Dikshit's meeting with the Prime Minister,
official sources said "the Chief Minister gave a detailed
presentation of status of various projects being implemented
to enhance the city's infrastructure".
An official of the Prime Minister's Office also
visited various project sites last week to take stock of
progress of work.
Meanwhile, sources said the general assembly of the
Commonwealth Games Federation is meeting here this week to
assess preparation of the city for the event.
The CAG had in a recent report raised concerns over
the pace of progress of various infrastructure projects and
wondered whether the city government will be able to complete
them ahead of the event.
Maintaining that there is a dip in revenue generation,
official sources said the city government was contemplating
seeking additional funds to the tune of Rs 1000 crore to
upgrade the infrastructure.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, October 07, 2009, 00:06