2010 Common Wealth Games Fail

A Scam of Massive Proportions

The CWG-2010 has been tagged with the games of scams and scandals. But the proportion couldn't be guessed even by generous estimates. Rs 36,000 crores or $8 billion scam! Whoa(Now again this is just an estimate,the original scam could be much bigger). And this in a country where 400 million live below the official poverty line or simply put, in sub-human conditions. But this was only expected once Suresh Kalmadi was appointed the head of the commonwealth games Organizing Committee. After all, he has a string of achievements to his credit. Some of which include charges of land grab, becoming the chief of Indian Olympics Committee (IOC) using shady means and using the same to stay in that position ever since, siphoning off public funds and many more.

Comparision Between 2006 Commonwealth Games And 2010 Commonwealth Games

The 2006 commonwealth games were held in Melbourne,Australia.The total cost for hosting the games-1.144 billion dollars(money generated from this event-1.5 billion dollars,Thus making profit from the event)

The 2010 common wealth games were held in Delhi,India.The initial total budget estimated by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Games was Rs 1,620 crore (US$361.26 million). In 2010, however, the official total budget soon escalated to an estimated RS 11,500 crore (US$2.56 billion), a figure which excluded non-sports-related infrastructure development. Business Today magazine estimated that the Games cost  Rs 60,000 crore (US$13.38 billion). The 2010 Commonwealth Games are reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.

Some jaw dropping stats

Dogs having a field day in commonwealth games village

The revelation of the cost of goods which were purchased during the Commonwealth Games are jaw dropping.The cost of more than 150 articles was escalated beyond one’s imagination.

124 trolley beds were bought at a staggering price of Rs 1.5 crores,The Market price for this beds was 1.5 lakhs per bed while the government bought it at 2.75 lakhs per bed.The beds were bought from a company named Surgicoin.A middleman - a company named Lord Krishna which selled those beds to the government at higher prices- therefore benefitting big time.

For ultrasound therapy machines, the government  payed the same Lord Krishna Company 3.5 lakhs per machine,against the actual market price of Rs. 77,000.  Multiply that by the 41 machine the government has bought, and the loss is more than a crore just for this item.

Shortwave Diathermy machines - used to treat these injuries - are priced at 4.9 lakhs against the manufacturer's usual price of Rs. 77,000.  Across the 20 machines that have been bought, that's a loss of 83 lakhs.

Toilet paper rolls valued at $2 were costed at $80,

$2 soap dispensers at $60,

$98 mirrors at $220,

A disposal glass for Rs 37,

garbage bags for Rs 3, 000 each,

Rs 2,000 for water jug,

 Rs 1,800 for brush and

 Rs 10, 000 for plastic chairs.

$11,830 altitude training simulators at $250,190.

Pulse oxymeter (Market price Rs 21,525-Price given Rs 1,51, 200)

A foot operated suction machine (Market price Rs 2887- Price given Rs 13,440),

A scoop stretcher (Market priceRs 13,650-Price given Rs 86,100) 

A B-type oxygen cylinder with flowmeter (Market price Rs 6,405- Price given Rs 1,10,250).

Suresh Kalmadi's Blunder

At the opening ceremony, the chairman of the organising committee Suresh Kalmadi faced embarrassment, when he was booed by spectators at the start of his welcome speech to 60,000 spectators. Kalmadi came under further strain when he "thanked" the late Princess Diana for attending the opening ceremony of the games. The chairman made the blunder at a press conference saying ’Yes, Princess Diana was there,’ after which he immediately corrected himself by saying ‘Prince Charles and (Camilla) the Duchess of Cornwall.

"when one in three Indians lives below the poverty line and 40% of the hungry live in India, when 46% of India's children and 55% of women are malnourished, did spending billions of dollars on a 12-day sports event built national pride or is it a matter of national shame?" .