[Reader-list] Commonwealth Games?

[Jeebesh]

  dear all, here is an interesting interview with ex-sports minister  
in the earlier govt. some of the details in this interview are very  
interesting in the context of mega event of Games. best jeebesh PS: i  
got this interview from yamuna jiye abhiyan




Mani Shankar Aiyar interview:

Q. Could you clarify your position on Delhi hosting the Commonwealth  
Games?

A. My position is the same now as it was when I was Sports Minister.
Extravaganzas like these are totally inappropriate for countries as
desperately poor as ourselves. There are those who wish to brush under
the carpet the 836 million Indians who live on under Rs 20 a day and
portray India as a great economic power. I suppose there are a few
misguided people like myself who think that these people should be
counted.

Q. What about the Games made it such an important issue for you?

A. The glitter and glamour of Games like this project a false
impression of India abroad, but worse, gives us a false impression of
ourselves and distracts from national tasks to which we should be
addressing our attention. That is why my spell as Sports Minister was
one of the unhappiest periods of my life and I remain very grateful to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he accepted my request to
relinquish to post.



Q. What were your goals when you were Sports Minister?

A. What I wanted to do was produce a sports policy that actually
brought games and sporting activities to that 70% of the population
that are defined as the youth of India – all people under 40. I
prepared a draft comprehensive sports policy at the insistence of the
Prime Minister, but the very week it came up in Cabinet I was dropped
from the Ministry and it was never considered by the Cabinet. The
result is that during events like this, we don’t have the distinction
of winning medals. All we want to do is have this sporting
extravaganza where virtually no medals will come our way, and what
will come our way is because great sporting nations like China are not
in the Commonwealth. I don’t think we should link our national honour
to being a giant amongst pygmies.



Q. The GOI is spending Rs 7000-10,000 crore on the Commonwealth Games.
Do you see this as money well spent?

A. You are totally misguided if you think that is all that is being
spent. The actual figure is much higher than that. There is a huge
amount of infrastructure that is being built only for the Games.
Should our infrastructure be directed by the needs of the Commonwealth
Games or through a well-considered view of the needs of the city and
the demands it suffers from? Then there is the question of, why Delhi?
Delhi is the richest city in the country, with the best existing
infrastructure. If all this money was being invested in
Mayiladuthurai, then maybe I would give up my objections.



Q. Do you know what government programmes were denied funding to
allocate this money to the CWG?
A. Don’t ask me. Last year I had worked out a scheme for desilting
water tanks with the help of the panchayats. We sought Rs 2000 crore
but were told there was no money. But the imperatives of national
prestige have succeeded in winkling thousands of crores out of the
Scrooges of North Block. When I was Sports Minister, I asked for a
total of Rs 6000 crore, to be handed out over 10 years, for a scheme
that would provide basic sporting facilities to every panchayat. They
sanctioned Rs 1500 crore. On the other hand, the Commonwealth Games
were initially sanctioned for Rs 300 crore, but every time the budget
goes up they still manage to find the money. When it comes to circuses
for the rich we are an emerging tiger; when it comes to feeding the
poor we suddenly become a destitute nation. The Commonwealth Games are
a symbol of distorted national priorities, false pride and delusions
of grandeur.



Q. The overall expenditure seems to be increasing every time the
Government reviews the situation. It seems to be getting worse as the
opening date gets nearer.

A. Total expenditure on the Asian Games of 1982 was Rs 55 crore. The
total expenditure on the Commonwealth Games is morally indefensible. I
can’t see Mahatma Gandhi offering to light the Olympic flame. But I do
recognise that I am one of the declining minority that still thinks
Gandhi got his economics right.



Q. Various environmental groups have criticised the choice of location
of the Games Village, as it is being built on the banks of the Yamuna.
Any comments?

A. There are certainly serious environmental concerns but I see from
the newspapers that the concerned authorities have been giving the
necessary clearances. I believe the environmental groups have not been
able to state their cases convincingly. The information base they use
tends to be both narrow and skewed. What amazes me is that a few years
ago they found a slum on the right bank of the Yamuna, in the shadow
of the Red Fort, that they deemed to be so environmentally damaging
that they moved it, disrupting the lives of thousands of very poor,
very disadvantaged migrant families. However, they had no difficulty
in getting environmental clearances of the Games Village, which has
come up on the left bank of the river, almost exactly opposite the
place where the slum had been cleaned. Don’t forget, after the Games,
the Village is going to be just about the most valuable piece of real
estate in the heart of the capital. Should we be having one set of
environmental regulations for the poor and another set for the rich?



Q. With such strong views on the matter, do you feel you gave the
Games enough attention during your 2 years as Sports Minister? Work is
behind schedule. Do you think you could have done more?

A. I was not allowed to give it my attention because I was not trusted
by those responsible for the Games. I was not surprised that I was not
trusted, because I had made clear my moral abhorrence to hosting this
event. But when it comes to finishing the work before the dates, I’m
not too worried on that score. We have an age-old tradition in India
of putting up the pandaal only when the baarat is around the corner.
We’ll finish the work and then proclaim it as a great organisational
success. But I think I will escape from the city and spend those days
in meditation at Sabarmati.



Q. What about the purported benefits that will arise from the Games?

A. I see the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the Indira Gandhi Stadium as
gaping vacuums in our Capital’s life, let alone the nation’s life.
Almost everywhere the Commonwealth Games, ghost towns are left behind.
Every effort I made as Sports Minister to ensure the Games left behind
a people’s legacy was thwarted. Now I am not hopeful of the Games
leaving behind a legacy that will reverberate in the lives of the aam
aadmi or even the aam vidhyarthi.



Q. Could you elaborate on what you mean by a people’s legacy?

A. I visited Manchester [which hosted the Games in 2002] within weeks
of becoming the Sports Minister and I saw how the athletics stadium
had been converted into a stadium for Manchester City Football Club.
They had created a system where the revenues would be shared between
club and city. The stadium would be used for rock concerts – in some
years they would have up to 400 such events. The redevelopment of East
Manchester – which was a completely run down part of the city – was a
vital part of their plan. After the redevelopment Microsoft moved
their European headquarters there. 18,000 youngsters employed in the
food & beverages sector for the Games were trained and subsequently
employed by Wal Mart. The swimming pool came to be used by immigrant
Muslim women in accordance with the customs of their community. While
I was Minister I saw no effort to concentrate on such issues, no
effort to create a positive legacy for the Games.



Q. Do you believe – as the IOA President Suresh Kalmadi has declared –
that your comments on the Commonwealth Games hampered Delhi’s bid for
the Asian Games of 2014?

A. I don’t feel responsible for it at all. It is wholly the
incompetence of the diplomatic corps in charge that is at fault for
our failure. I was made a convenient scapegoat. In any case, I truly
believe that India and Delhi did not need the insult of the Asian
Games of 2014 after the injury that is these Commonwealth Games.