DELHI-CWG 2

"The intent to slander with which the report
constructs to tarnish the endeavour of Delhi Government is
apparent with the choice of phrases like 'how stage was set
for restricted tender', 'subterfuge to share the spoils',
'Method in madness' and 'unusual interests' - all
assumptions," the brief report said.
The city government Tuesday made the report public on
its website.
Strongly rejecting the report of the panel that delay
in the execution of the projects was deliberately done in
order to inflate the cost, the government questioned the
observation saying there was Assembly election in 2008 and
there was no certainty that the ruling party would come to
power.
"If the re-election of the ruling party was not
certain, then was the delay done to benefit another government
– possibly the Opposition?," it asked.
The report also pointed to several letters Delhi
Government had written to the Centre seeking funds for the CWG
projects as non availability of finances also resulted in
delay in works besides multiplicity of authorities.
"The planning commission gave in-principle approval
for allocating Rs 770 crore for development of Delhi's
infrastructure, however the actual flow of plan fund for CWG
infrastructure projects commenced from 2007-08," the report
said.
"The panel has failed to appreciate the budgetary
constraints faced by Delhi Government for commencing
infrastructure works. It has also failed to appreciate the
need for consultations with the Organising Committee,
which was only constituted in February 2005," it said.
The city government's report also rejected criticism
of the High Level Committee (HLC) for bifurcation of
Expenditure Finance Committee of the city government, saying
it was done to expedite the process for giving approval to the
CWG projects.
In the series of indictment against city government
the HLC cited bifurcation of EFC wherein instead of one EFC
for projects ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 100 crore under then
Finance Minister A K Walia was replaced by two EFCs with
Dikshit heading the second one to consider projects costing
between Rs 50 to Rs 100 crore and for all CWG projects.
"The HLC did not care to consult the Chief Minister or
Finance Minister, any other Ministries or officials of the
Finance department to ascertain the reason for bifurcating the
EFC," it said.
The city government said a comprehensive city
development plan was prepared after several rounds of
deliberations and presentations before Planning Commission
and a committee under the Cabinet Secretary.
"Surprisingly, the report states that there was no
comprehensive plan for the Games and all decisions were taken
by the Delhi Government in an adhoc manner. The report also
fails to acknowledge that the city improvement strategy having
76 major projects cannot be planned overnight," it said.