Organising Committee issues ad to ‘reveal facts’ about CWG
November 10th, 2010 - 3:16 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Amid charges of corruption, the organising committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Wednesday issued full page advertisements in leading newspapers about its budget and expenditure in conducting the event, avowedly to “reveal facts” in “public interest”.
Calling it a special Commonwealth Games report, the ad said the responsibility of the organising committee (OC) was to “conduct the Games” and had “no role” in developing any infrastructure.
Using colour highlighter, photographs and arrows, one of the several boxes in the ad was about the “myth and truth” of tissue paper rolls and umbrellas procured for the Games.
The myth, the ad said, was that tissue paper rolls were bought at the rate of Rs.4,000 each. The truth, however, was that boxes containing 100 units of rolls were bought at Rs.3,850. Therefore each roll cost Rs.38.50.
The umbrellas, it similarly said, were not like “any other umbrella” as imagined. “They were not normal umbrellas. They are large in size, 100 percent water proof, fire-retardant and come with a support structure”.
According to the OC, its budget was Rs.1,813 crore plus the overlays. The amount spent till now is Rs.1,400 crore plus the overlays.
The revenue raised by the OC through sponsorship, TV rights and ticketing was Rs.674 crore and the value of contract awarded to government agencies, the Commonwealth Games Federation and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) was Rs.620 crore, the ad said.
The ad detailed the responsibilities of the OC and also had a box on the international acclaim the Games received.
On Tuesday, the government admitted that the Commonwealth Games OC failed to achieve an expected revenue of Rs.1,708 crore from the mega sporting event.
“An amount of Rs.1,708 crore was expected to be generated through revenue by the organising committee (OC) which has not been achieved,” Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs M.S. Gill told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Amid charges of corruption against him as the chairmen of the OC, Suresh Kalmadi Tuesday resigned as the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) secretary.
- Expected revenue not earned during CWG: Gill - Nov 09, 2010
- No extravagant expenditure, deals transparent: CGOC - Aug 04, 2010
- CBI arrests event manager in CWG overlays scam - Jan 18, 2011
- Factfile on Commonwealth Games overlays - Dec 24, 2010
- Factfile on CWG organising committee's defence against media charges - Aug 04, 2010
- CBI raids premises of CWG officials (Lead) - Feb 18, 2011
- India doubles Commonwealth Games budget (Second Lead) - Nov 05, 2009
- Commonwealth Games budget more than doubled to Rs.1,620 crore (Lead) - Nov 05, 2009
- CBI questions Kalmadi's close aide Shekhar - Dec 24, 2010
- Kalmadi-led CWG organising committee a sham: Shunglu panel(Lead) - Apr 02, 2011
- Kalmadi unilaterally announced Rs.33 crore to CWG associations: Shunglu - Apr 02, 2011
- Have done nothing wrong, says Bhanot - Feb 24, 2011
- CWG scam: Court grants bail to firm's official (Second lead) - Mar 15, 2011
- Kalmadi's close aide Shekhar remanded to CBI custody for two more days - Feb 17, 2011
- Kalmadi houses raided, says ready for full investigation (Lead) - Dec 24, 2010
Tags: 2010 commonwealth games, arrows, committee issues, commonwealth games federation, crore, fire retardant, government agencies, international acclaim, Lok Sabha, New Delhi, organising committee, page advertisements, public interest, public sector undertakings, support structure, tissue paper, tv rights, umbrellas, water proof, youth affairs