India's prime minister promised a successful Delhi Commonwealth Games Sunday, a day after he intervened to rescue the troubled event that has been beset by delays and allegations of corruption. "The successful organisation of the Commonwealth Games would be another signal to the world that India is rapidly marching ahead with confidence," Manmohan Singh said in his annual Independence Day address.
The Games, which open in the Indian capital on October 3, will be a "proud moment" said Singh, adding that no stone would be left unturned "to make it a success." On Saturday, Singh gave "overriding powers" to a panel of government secretaries to take over management of the preparation work with just 50 days to go.
The move was seen as a direct slight to the chairman of the Games organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, who has faced increasingly vocal calls to resign amid the scandals swirling around the event. Kalmadi, who has denied any wrongdoing and refused to step down, is a senior leader of Singh's ruling Congress party.
"The committee of secretaries will review implementation and it will have jurisdiction over matters relating to the organising committee," a statement from the prime minister's office said Saturday. "The prime minister further directed concerned ministries to conduct thorough investigations into all the complaints that have been received of procedural and other irregularities," it said.
"He said that those found guilty should face severe and exemplary punishment." A panel of cabinet ministers formed last year to oversee the Games was set to meet later Sunday to review progress, officials said. "The group of ministers will review plans for the event's opening ceremony, project costs, assess security issues and the progress of ongoing works at the various sites," a top Games official told AFP on condition he was not named.
An Indian anti-corruption body this month found a host of problems with construction work for the Games, including the use of poor-quality materials and dubious contracts.
Questions have also been raised about suspect sums being transferred from the organising committee to a British-based firm during the Queens Baton relay launched in London last year. Indian opposition leaders called for wrongdoers to be punished. "The prime minister has constituted a committee and having done that there should be now visible concrete action against those allegedly corrupt including Kalmadi," Communist Party of India national secretary D. Raja told AFP.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked Singh. "We agree with the prime minister that the Games are in a mess but this step is too little and too late," BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudi said. "The most important aspect is that this issue had been raked up in parliament by MPs on eight occasions and it is amazing that he preferred to keep quiet in parliament and chose to speak outside," Rudi told AFP.
"It seems the prime minister has no confidence in parliament." Many sites in the Indian capital still resemble a construction site and monsoon rains have hampered efforts to accelerate the work. Saturday's statement acknowledged the delays.
"The prime minister observed that there had been slippages in the time schedules of some of the construction works and deficiencies had also been observed in some of the works," the statement said.