RETROFIT
Too much knowledge and too little knowledge are both dangerous. Sometimes, thearrogance of foreign media when they cover Indian eventsis most galling. In the past, I have highlighted how foreign media hasliterally translated UPA Government's draw card - aam aadmi as MangoMan, but last week I read an interesting and insightful piece in a Kiwi paper.Yes, a New Zealand paper called NZ Herald. Now, why would NewZealanders be interested in India, one may ask? Well, the CEO of theCommonwealth Games Federation is a New Zealander. His name is MikeHooper. The same Hooper who was caught in an ugly maelstrom when CWGOrganising Committee boss SureshKalmadi tried to evict him from the Games Headquarters saying that hewas an imepdiment. It all got out of hand till a rapprochement waseffected In London during the Queen's Baton relay function.
Now Hooper is a brave man for he has to weather the visiccitudes ofDelhi and India. Isn't it tough to survive in a city where his dailydiary reads like this - anti-terrorism (tick), security (tick),politics (tick), telling it like it is (tick), maintaining theCommonwealth Games status (tick) and of course eating fiery curries(postponed). In the hurly burly of a developing Delhi, Kiwi Hooper isstruggling to come to terms with all its many splendoured vagaries. Itis typical of a White Man to categorise India in such small andcliched compartments. Snakecharmers and elephants seem to be missing though. When will the whiteman understand that India despite its acute poverty is changingrapidly? Unfortunately the crisis over the Games infrastructure isn'thelping our image. Nor is Kalmadi and Lalit Bhanot's boorish behaviourabsolving us of our inefficiency.
But back to NZ Herald which reckons that as far as global sportsadministration jobs are concerned, Hooper has one with levels ofstress that bring a firein the belly unrelated to anything accompanied by the word 'vindaloo'.Incidentally vindaloo is not a north Indian curry, but has its originsin Goa. Once again throwing into stark relief the role that cluelessforeign media play in distorting things 'Indian.' To the Herald'scredit, they have not painted the rest of the Commonwealth Gamescompletion schedule in dark hues. In fact, they have shown Hooper as ago getter who is trying to adjust to the Indian pace of things. Hooperis also quoted as saying that even at Melbourne in 2006 some of thestadia were behind schedule. An attempt to humanise Hooper, even atthe limited cost of demonising the rest of Delhi. It portrays thepicture of an accommodative individual who is simply doing his job.
The Herald writes: For the next 10 months, up until and after theopening on October 3, Hooper's job as chief executive of theCommonwealth Games Federation (CGF) will be a challenge. The50-year-old has held the role since December 2000, after moving on asboss of the New Zealand Olympic Committee. Most days he negotiates hisway through the organised chaos of Delhi into the cacophony of theConnaught Place business district as it whirs into mayhem.
It's a long way from growing up as part of a family of nine childrenin the Manawatu. Recently his quality control role has been riddledwith controversy as Hooper, renowned for being a straight shooter,comes up against local political power. Suresh Kalmadi, the chairmanof the Games' organising committee, demanded his sacking for what heclaimed was incompetence and delaying tactics. That's after Hooperhelped set up an independent monitoring committee - at the CGF's cost- to oversee the slow pace ofpreparations. Hooper says they have reached a practical peace, fornow.
"My response is that, quite simply we're going to focus on the issues,get on with the work and continue to assist - because the reality isthere's a lot to be done. It's no secret we're behind schedule." Itstems from early October when the completion date for a number ofvenues such as the cycling velodrome, aquatics centre and rugby sevensground was extended by three months to March 31."
Is it a real cause for concern? Not really, says Hooper: "So long asthey can demonstrate a degree of readiness when we come throughformally with the co-ordination commission on December 14. "The timeframe from the start of April to the end of September still gives ussix months, so we're not panicking. If you go back to Melbourne, [theCommonwealth Games there in 2006] even some of their venues weren'tready until three or four months before.
"The MCG, for example, underwent hundreds of millions of dollars worthof renovations but we only had a month or two before that was ready.The village is something else we'll get an update on. It's importantwe keep monitoring and querying. To be fair, there's been a lot ofIndian government funding, including an increase of Rs 16.2 billion ($500 million) added to the budget recently for operational delivery,broadcasting, venue construction and infrastructuralprogrammes."Hooper's had the backing of the CGF chairman and presidentMike Fennell during the time of crisis. The president of the NZOC,Mike Stanley, has also waded in on his behalf after his October visitto Delhi for the General Assembly.
"He's known for speaking his mind and he's done that. He hasn't shiedaway from asking the hard questions to make sure the event isdelivered on time and to a certain standard," said Stanley. "That hasupset some people but he was in a difficult position and needed topush and prod to make sure athletes get the best Games possible.
"It's a situation that shouldn't have presented itself to the CGF tostart with." Hooper acknowledges one of the biggest concerns is thesecurity riskfollowing the March gunmen attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team busin Pakistan and the Mumbai terrorism episode just over a year ago."We're all aware we live in a crazy world and these issues receive alot of attention. But the Delhi police have done an excellent jobmoving people between venues thus far.
"With terrorism, you also have to look at London being awarded theOlympics in 2005 and the day afterwards suffering the [July 7]bombings. It can happen anywhere. "While there are a lot of crazies,there's been a lot of information-sharing with the other agencies atthe highest level, like London's Metropolitan police and New Zealand'sforce. "There are four tiers of security to pass through at venues andthe manpower is significant - 85,000 sworn officers and 30,000paramilitary types."
Connected to the same Commonwealth Games was an equally fascinatingfront paged expose in Mail Today on how the Organising Committee isfighting the Union of India in the Delhi High Court. The storyrevealed that the OC writ petition before the Delhi High Court hassnubbed the Centre claiming there was no direct or indirect controlover it by the government and there was no funding by it to manage itsday- to- day affairs or to run its office. The Centre, on the otherhand, allegedthat the claims had no basis as the CWGOC had received substantialfunds from it and owed its birth to it. The committee had admitted inits 2005- 06 audit report that it had received Rs 52.58 crore of itsreceipts of Rs 52.72 crore fromgovernment sources, it pointed out.
I am reproducing parts of this important story from the Delhi based paper forgreater and wider dispersal: Responding to the contention that thegovernment was merely acting like a financier to the committee, theCentre said it could not betreated as a lender because it had provided a loan of Rs 272.72 crorewithout any security to an organisation without any assets. Thegovernment was committed to provide Rs 767 crore but the committeeitself had later requested for around Rs 1,780 crore, it said.In this year's Budget, the government sanctioned an enhanced provisionof Rs 1,820 crore for the 2010 Games. The government also pointed outthat though it had no share in profits, it had to bear the loss if thecommittee failed to generate enough revenue from the 2010 Games. " Inthis scenario, it is themoral as well as the statutory duty of the petitioner (the CGOC) touse public funds judiciously and be open for scrutiny at all times,"the Centre said in its affidavit before the Delhi High Court.
Refuting the charge that it was encroaching upon the role andresponsibility of the committee, the government said it only intendedto ensure accountability of the committee to the public exchequer.The Centre also contested the claim of the committee that it was notunder the control of the government or a public authority accountableto answer queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It pointedout that it was a signatory to the November 13, 2003, host citycontract with the Commonwealth Games Federation and the birth of thecommittee arose out of that contract. After execution of the contract,the chairman and composition of the committee was decided by thegovernment's core Group of Ministers (GoM) in its meeting on January29, 2005. The executive board of the committee had four governmentofficials as members and two as special invitees.
On the claim of the CGOC that it would generate funds on its own, theCentre pointed out that the Delhi government, the Sports Authority ofIndia, the DDA, etc, would provide infrastructure without any usercharges for the Games, but that will generate revenue for thecommittee. Besides, the staff of the committee is paid from its account which isentirely funded by the government, the Centre said.The controversy erupted after a person filed an RTI application beforethe sports ministry seeking to know the details of payments made toactors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan among others fortaking them to the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Melbourne in2006.
Even as I write this, I am reading details of BJP leader Vijay Goel'spresser where he has fulminated against OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi,calling him corrupt and inefficient. I am amazed that the governmentcannot exercise any control over Kalmadi and his shenanigans. I cannotbelieve that the OC is refusing to share financial details of itsspend on stadia etc with the Government. After all the OC wasempowered by the Government and all the projects which have seen timeand cost overruns are being financed by the same Government. It is atravesty.
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