New Delhi: With the spotlight relentlessly trained on the sleaze enveloping Commonwealth Games, Congress leadership has been forced to explore the feasibility of setting up a mechanism to oversee preparations for the mega event. The issue is to be discussed by the Congress core group,the partys top decision-making body,at its meeting on Friday.The government had ruled out the option of creating an oversight panel,with sports minister M S Gill turning down the demand made by nominated member Mani Shankar Aiyar in Rajya Sabha earlier this week.But with skeletons tumbling out of the cupboard of Suresh Kalmadiled Organising Committee with alarming regularity,the party appears to be bracing to revisit the issue.Signs of a rethink come amid Oppositions continued onslaught on Kalmadi.On Thursday,BJPs deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde demanded Kalmadis resignation citing the strictures passed by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and T S Darbaris statement that the OC chairman was involved in all the controversial decisions.CPMs Sitaram Yechury said the government should sack Kalmadi if it had any shame. It will be a tough call to take,and opinion is sharply split on the matter.A strong school in the government is in agreement with Gill that the OC should continue to run the show and government should not get identified with the controversy-ridden and,perhaps,a failing enterprise. Kalmadi has handled preparations almost as his personal show. But now that preparations have been exposed as shoddy and corruption-ridden, many see the arrangement as buffering the Govt. against the torrent of adverse publicity.On Thursday,the autonomy that the OC has enjoyed helped Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan fend off questions on the CAGs indictment of the OC for the unnecessary expenses on a number of counts.It is an autonomous body, she said at a media briefing.
The Congress again distanced itself from Kalmadi in light of fresh revelations of wasteful expenditure by the OC.Natarajan shoved aside questions based on Kalmadi being a Congress MP.He is in the OC in his role as the chief of Indian Olympic Association, she contended.
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QBR consultancy given to highest bidder,finds CAG
Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi may have to find another fall guy to stave off fresh corruption charges emerging in award of consultancy contract for prestigious Queens Baton Relay (QBR). This time,the probe by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that OC awarded consultancy services work for QBR to the highest bidder an unknown Maxxam International for Rs 8.01 crore against all laid down norms.Those who were bypassed in the tender process after qualifying in the technical round included PricewaterhouseCoopers and Brilliant Entertainment Networks.While PricewaterhouseCoopers had quoted Rs 1.91 crore,the lowest bidder Brilliant Entertainment Networks had asked for Rs 1.85 crore to do the job that was finally awarded to Maxxam International for Rs 8.01 crore.
Interestingly,the OC cited prestige and honour of the country at stake among other reasons for backing Maxxam International.Brazenly,the OC cited rapport (of the firm) with various stakeholders and clear understanding of the requirements as reasons for awarding the contract to the highest bidder,sources said. This was,however,not the first consultancy firm that bagged the award despite being the highest bidder.In another similar favour made by the OC,it had awarded broadcast rights consultancy to London-based Fast Track Sales Ltd.Fast Track had been favoured against another bidder Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM) despite quoting a higher commission rate of 15% compared to SMAMs 12.5%.In the Maxxam case,the OC had invited tenders for providing consultancy services for QBR in May 2007.Three firms had responded to the advertisement,and a five-member committee was constituted to examine the tenders.After examination of the technical bids,three firms were called for presentation of their final bid in October 2007.After evaluating the three firms,the committee decided to award the work to Maxxam International,the highest bidder.
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Games funds were directed to renovate IOA Bhawan: CAG
Misuse of funds meant for Commonwealth Games 2010 was not just restricted to award of contracts to the highest bidder.In some cases,taxpayers money was channeled to unproductive and unrelated work.
A recent inspection report of CAG said the Organising Committee,headed by Suresh Kalmadi,had allocated special funds to renovate the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) building.Kalmadi is also IOA chairman.Since IOA had no legitimate claim to any CWG funds,it rented office space at the IOA building.The area rented was only 34% of the total office space at IOA Bhawan but that didnt deter OC from allocating funds for renovation of the entire building which cost it more than Rs 4 crore.OC undertook renovation work of the entire 20,000 sq ft of IOA Bhawan although it had actually acquired only 6,750 sq ft (33.75%) of space, the CAG report said.The renovation work was completed in Nov 2009,after a delay of about 20 months,while by September 2008,the OC had started shifting furniture from IOA Bhawan to NDCC Tower,which it had rented as the Games headquarters.TNN
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ED may not quiz OC chief till Games end
Preliminary findings of the probe carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General had revealed that undue favour had been made to London-based Fast Track Sales Ltd solely on the recommendation of CGF president Mike Fennell and OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi. ED officials may call suspended OC finance committee head M Jaychandran for questioning in the next few days seeking details on payments made to all foreign consultants.Sources said Kalmadi may not be called for questioning till October 13,the day the Games conclude.But efforts will be made to investigate all leads based on payments made so far to all foreign consultants by the OC.
Besides T S Darbari, ED has already questioned deputy DG of OC Sanjay Mohindroo for transactions related to AM Films.Joint DG and head of OCs finance committee M Jaychandran will be the third official who will be questioned by ED.The three of them had been earlier suspended by the OC on allegation of irregularities. The OC had approved the international broadcasting sales consultancy to Fast Track Sales Ltd only on the basis of suggestions made by the president and CEO of the Common wealth Games Federation (CGF) and chairman of the OC, according to documentary evidence gathered by CAG officials during the initial inspection of CWG books.The OC had signed agreements to the tune of Rs 208 crore ($46 million) with different agencies,including agreement in process amounting to over $3 million with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the broadcasting rights in UK.The commission to Fast Track on these broadcast rights was 15%.
The OC secretary general,Lalit Bhanot,has defended the award of the contract to Fast Track saying it was a well thought out decision as they did not want all works to go to SMAM.In a statement issued on Thursday,Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper also defended the decision of the CGF president in recommending Fast Track saying that though the federation did make this suggestion,but it was ultimately for the OC to select consultants for New Delhi CWG. Although the CGF supported the appointment of Fast Track, it strongly refutes any inference that it interfered in the selection process, Hooper said.
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(source-toi)
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