Lack of information, unprofessional staff add to Games` woes

Ill-equipped staff and lack of professionalism are the order of the day in the 34th National Games.

Ranchi: Ill-equipped staff and lack of professionalism are the order of the day in the ongoing 34th National Games, already besieged by a series of scams and multiple problems.

Volunteers here are struggling to provide the most basic information needed for athletes, officials, technical delegates and media. The so-called `Main Press Centre` located in the athletics venue is manned by ill-equipped, unprofessional staff, providing little help to journalists gathered here to cover the Games. Forget providing results of different venues, such has been the mess that even the daily competition schedule and the medals at stake -- the most basic requirements -- are not available. About the Games website, managed by CMC Limited, it`s less said the better.Click on the medals tally and it will show you the number of medals won by teams, but with a catch -- `subject to official confirmation` -- given at the bottom. Nobody knows how reliable the information put is up in the website, which does not provide schedules and results of most of the competitions. Those in charge of the web department said they were helpless and they, too, were handicapped by the lack of information. "Please contact the sports director Amitabh Chaudhary that will not only benefit the media but us as well," a person in charge of the web department said. The media committee formed for the Games is equally ill-equipped, disseminating wrong information – like yesterday`s result when it stated B Kavita won the gold medal, which later turned out to be bronze. On probing, it was found that ignorance ruled the roost as the qualification finishes were taken as final results. With no professional assistance and students running the show for the media committee what more could have been expected.Realising his mistake, a student of a university said, "I was given the top three results which I thought were gold, silver and bronze medal finishes." When pointed out the problems that have dogged the Games so far, an official at the MPC said, "We are in the learning process. Things will get better." When contacted, Chaudhary directed the issue to media committee chairman D K Tiwary, who could not be contacted. "It`s good that you`ve highlighted the issue but inform this to Mr Tiwary. I can give his number," he said. Taking into account the enormity of the Games -- where 33competitions in three different venues of Jharkhand are held -- it seems strange that the organising committee has not invested enough in using the website to generate interest. Behind the scenes the results and information service which provides basic details such as schedules, times, placings, medal tallies and flash quotes from athletes has failed miserably. Commentators and journalists have to rely on scoreboard timings that flash up at the venues, sometimes for a split second, while the alternative is to wait for more than four or five hours or till next day for the results. PTI