COMMON-WEALTH??
Rarely do asian countries play host to sporting extravaganza that stir up the state treasury resulting in a spill over of thousands of crores. Come October 3 and India will hold yet another distinction of being the second asian country to hold the commonwealth games after Malaysia. Delhites ,if they so wish can bask in the glory that comes with the transformation of Delhi from being called ‘walled city’ to ‘world class city’.
As the grand October fortnight approaches fast, various opinions about the games come out louder, a practical realization of modified doppler’s effect! All pluses and minuses , in whatever form they have arrived need to be assessed objectively from a reflective distance rather than making an emotive mountain out of it.
The hustle bustle witnessed by the city in the last couple of years pretty much Xeroxes the scene 28 years back. Although the bid to conduct the most expensive version was pocketed by India in 2003 but the infrastructural work didn’t start before 2008.It is commonsensical that the quality of created edifice will hardly be upto the standards. This is not new. The infra work same for the asiad had started in 1980. If haste does not come with all waste, some kinks do get drifted along. Some of the stadiums lived with water leakages(Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium) and incomplete canopies(swimming facility, talkatora). The stadiums dashed into oblivion right after the games and have been renewed only recently. They do not serve as training grounds which can be used to hone the sports skills thus giving nothing other than home advantage to the players. But thanks to the elastic deadline of the 2010 commonwealth games, home advantage or the acquaintance of the player with the field is a remote thought.
Talking about the most active participants of the event, the labourers are not some fair profiteers. They are paid about 40% less than the specified remunerative costs , in crude terms its called bonded labour. The bigwigs know better if this is a trade off for Rs 40 cr spent to advertise “see you in delhi” in the closing ceremony of the 2006 CWG. The slums,shops , not so good looking markets etc have been demolished leaving some of the affected clueless about their future.
No doubts, these events lead to mammoth infrastructural growth, flyovers , game villages, roads etc. but hosting the games in a less developed city of the country could have more sense and come out more fruitful rather than creating another round of rings on the contours of a city that’s already on an escalatory path.
About impetus to tourism, trade etc. formation of BCI is a positive step but history shows that the pre event anticipation far exceeds post event realities.
South Africa played host to the football party at the expense of third world people’s money that demands to satisfy more pressing needs. So is the case with India. If five Indian states have been compared to the populace of West Africa , the amount of Rs 35000 cr being spent on the games appears to be a clear case of misplaced priorities.
And as we gear up to welcome our guests this autumn , with English speaking cab drivers, immaculate roads painted roadside transformers, we can’t ignore the fact that there are germane and much more grave issues waiting to be solved at home.
As the grand October fortnight approaches fast, various opinions about the games come out louder, a practical realization of modified doppler’s effect! All pluses and minuses , in whatever form they have arrived need to be assessed objectively from a reflective distance rather than making an emotive mountain out of it.
The hustle bustle witnessed by the city in the last couple of years pretty much Xeroxes the scene 28 years back. Although the bid to conduct the most expensive version was pocketed by India in 2003 but the infrastructural work didn’t start before 2008.It is commonsensical that the quality of created edifice will hardly be upto the standards. This is not new. The infra work same for the asiad had started in 1980. If haste does not come with all waste, some kinks do get drifted along. Some of the stadiums lived with water leakages(Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium) and incomplete canopies(swimming facility, talkatora). The stadiums dashed into oblivion right after the games and have been renewed only recently. They do not serve as training grounds which can be used to hone the sports skills thus giving nothing other than home advantage to the players. But thanks to the elastic deadline of the 2010 commonwealth games, home advantage or the acquaintance of the player with the field is a remote thought.
Talking about the most active participants of the event, the labourers are not some fair profiteers. They are paid about 40% less than the specified remunerative costs , in crude terms its called bonded labour. The bigwigs know better if this is a trade off for Rs 40 cr spent to advertise “see you in delhi” in the closing ceremony of the 2006 CWG. The slums,shops , not so good looking markets etc have been demolished leaving some of the affected clueless about their future.
No doubts, these events lead to mammoth infrastructural growth, flyovers , game villages, roads etc. but hosting the games in a less developed city of the country could have more sense and come out more fruitful rather than creating another round of rings on the contours of a city that’s already on an escalatory path.
About impetus to tourism, trade etc. formation of BCI is a positive step but history shows that the pre event anticipation far exceeds post event realities.
South Africa played host to the football party at the expense of third world people’s money that demands to satisfy more pressing needs. So is the case with India. If five Indian states have been compared to the populace of West Africa , the amount of Rs 35000 cr being spent on the games appears to be a clear case of misplaced priorities.
And as we gear up to welcome our guests this autumn , with English speaking cab drivers, immaculate roads painted roadside transformers, we can’t ignore the fact that there are germane and much more grave issues waiting to be solved at home.
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