New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) India is “pushing the hardest” to ensure that the infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is ready in time, Sports Minister M.S. Gill said Wednesday as MPs across the spectrum expressed concern in the Rajya Sabha over the country’s preparedness to host the event.
“We are here in a situation where we are pushing the hardest to see that the infrastructure is ready in time to enable the staging of test events (before the Oct 3-14, 2010 Games),” Gill said while responding to a calling attention motion in the house.

“It is now a question of coming out with dignity and honour. Today the country, the people, the prime minister, everyone is clear; please get it ready in time,” the minister maintained.

“This is something that concerns me all the time,” he said, adding that a group of ministers under Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy meets once a week to monitor the progress in constructing the stadia and other infrastructure.

The government, he said, was totally focused and doing everything that could be done to ensure that the stadia, the Games villages and other infrastructure for the event were readied in time.

Attendance in the Rajya Sabha was extremely thin during the calling attention motion. Gill was the only minister present in the house during the calling attention motion. And, of the 15 MPs who had declared their intent to speak, only five were present. This prompted Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan and later Presiding Officer P.J. Kurien to call on seven non-listed MPs to speak.

At the same time, he cautioned against drawing comparisons between the New Delhi event and the previous edition at Melbourne four years ago or the Beijing Olympics last year.

“The Beijing Olympics cost $50 billion. Can we do that?” Gill wondered. The New Delhi Games have a budget of Rs.16.20 billion ($349 million).

“Don’t compare (New Delhi) to Melbourne. It is a city of three million in a super rich country. We are a city of 17 million. Infrastructure for such a big city is a totally different issue,” the minister maintained.

In a five-page statement after Kalraj Mishra of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had moved the calling attention motion, Gill admitted that Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Mike Fennel had “expressed some concerns” about the capacity of the Games Organising Committee to deliver operationally.

These matters were discussed in London last month between Fennel, organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and Gill “and were resolved amicably”, the statement said.

Thereafter, a retired secretary to the Indian government was appointed the organising committee CEO, while three other serving senior officers, including a financial expert “were also made available” to the organising committee.

“This will tighten financial security and ensure as many checks and balances as poss”ble,” Gill said in his reply.

Speaking on the motion, leader of opposition Arun Jaitley (BJP) said the Indian sports establishment was “in a state of last minute panic” as the Games deadline approached.

He also lamented that with most of the stadia slated for completion before the event began, India would lose the host nation advantage.

“Thus, the expectation that the Games would boost sports in India would not happen,” he added.

Jaya Bachchan (Samajwadi Party) contended that the Games would “be the most humiliating moment we will have to face”, while N.K. Singh (Janata Dal-United) felt there were “too many chefs” in the organising committee and wondered if there was a “principal chef”.