Games politicians play

Will CWG 2010 cross new frontiers or win new friends?

For a country whose prime minister was willing to routinely skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, till an Indian diplomat eyed the top job at its secretariat, it may have appeared odd that in 2003 India’s national Capital raced against the obscure city of Hamilton, Canada, to win the bid to host the 19th Commonwealth Games. On the other hand, it could well be argued that after Malaysia became the first Asian country to host the Games, the “jewel in the crown” could not have shied away from trying seriously at least once. The decision of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government to underwrite the total cost of the Games reportedly helped India win the vote 46-22. It was estimated at the time that the Games would cost Rs 1,899 crore, with the government not required to shell out too much given optimistic projections of potential revenue from the event. The theme for India’s bid at the time, the year of “India Shining”, was “New Frontiers and New Friendships”. So, the mood was hospitable. Seven years, and a lot of construction and criticism later, not only has the cost of “underwriting” the Games gone up, but no one is quite sure if any “new frontiers” will be crossed or “new friendships” made. There are mind-boggling estimates of cost over-runs, with the total cost estimated to be anywhere between Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore, depending on what elements are included as cost of the Games. This is at least one reason why the Games continue to attract hostile media attention. The Delhi government has been increasing tariffs of public utilities and raising revenues in the name of the Games without explaining why the taxpayer has to cough up so much.

Second, the combined effect of ministerial incompetence, confounded by one sports minister’s active disinclination to deliver; organisational sloth and suspected corruption; and misplaced priorities of the local government in infrastructure development, has made a mockery of the Games. The event’s organisers and Delhi’s state government have taken the citizen for granted, not explaining why they are doing what they are doing. The lack of transparency has meant that the government is spending money doing ridiculous things like digging up and re-plastering pavements in Lutyens’ Delhi, while neglecting footpaths in the rest of the city, where people actually walk.

More than the cost and corruption, what is truly tragic about the run up to the event is the absence of any marked public enthusiasm. The government and the Games’ organisers seem to have done little so far to cross “new frontiers” and make “new friendships”. This explains the apparent disinterest of the corporate sector with few companies yet willing to come forward and sponsor the Games. If the organisers don’t attract enough private funding, as promised, they will force public sector enterprises to step in, as so often happens. In the end, the Games may still be conducted without too much dislocation and confusion, in a typically Indian way, but the one important lesson already learnt is that India must wait for some more time before bidding for the Olympic Games.