The Times of India 28.10.2010
Govt monitored 75 projects
NEW DELHI: Here are more pointers to how Delhi government's decision to separate Games projects from those of city development is almost an afterthought.
For 28 months, an empowered committee chaired by the chief secretary, Rakesh Mehta, created for the express purpose of monitoring Games projects had reviewed 75 projects on a monthly basis. And these projects, according to top Delhi government sources, are worth Rs 16,650 crore — the figure that the Union sports ministry report says Delhi government spent on Games projects.
The committee ceased to exist after the Games as its mandate was considered fulfilled.
The projects that had been monitored by the committee but do not figure in the list of 25 projects that Mehta has suggested that CAG should limit its scrutiny to — as only they are directly related to the Games — include Geeta Colony Bridge, Bridge at Neela Hauz, Ghazipur flyover, flyover at junction of Nelson Mandela Marg and Vivekanand
Road, installing of road signages, streetlighting, beautification of flyovers, Gole Market and CP Redevelopment, upgradation of public toilets, augmentation of Delhi Transport Corporation ( DTC) fleet and several power plants, including Bawana and Dadri which have been routinely tomtommed as Games projects.
Mehta defended his letter to the CAG saying that the "institution" of the empowered committee was found so useful that "we kept adding unrelated projects" too to the kitty. Accountant general Delhi Rajveer Singh had retorted saying the government should not attempt to filter information on the ground of whether the projects are Games related or not. The government now plans to update the CAG on the various heads that it had received funds under without which, Mehta says, it will not be possible for them to understand the issue. "We will tell them how much we got as budget for the Games, how much we gave to NDMC and MCD and how much we got under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The problem is funds were sanctioned in bulk and not project wise so they were spent on both city development and CWG," Mehta explained.
The empowered committee dates back to 2008 when the need was first felt for separate monitoring of Games projects. It had 70-80 officers and the marathon monthly meetings would last 2 to 2.5 hours. "The empowered committee's role was to review Games projects but we found the exercise very useful in overall monitoring which is how these 75 projects came to be reviewed. In fact, I am now planning to recommend to the government that the committee should be revived and the exercise continued," Mehta said.
For 28 months, an empowered committee chaired by the chief secretary, Rakesh Mehta, created for the express purpose of monitoring Games projects had reviewed 75 projects on a monthly basis. And these projects, according to top Delhi government sources, are worth Rs 16,650 crore — the figure that the Union sports ministry report says Delhi government spent on Games projects.
The committee ceased to exist after the Games as its mandate was considered fulfilled.
The projects that had been monitored by the committee but do not figure in the list of 25 projects that Mehta has suggested that CAG should limit its scrutiny to — as only they are directly related to the Games — include Geeta Colony Bridge, Bridge at Neela Hauz, Ghazipur flyover, flyover at junction of Nelson Mandela Marg and Vivekanand
Road, installing of road signages, streetlighting, beautification of flyovers, Gole Market and CP Redevelopment, upgradation of public toilets, augmentation of Delhi Transport Corporation ( DTC) fleet and several power plants, including Bawana and Dadri which have been routinely tomtommed as Games projects.
Mehta defended his letter to the CAG saying that the "institution" of the empowered committee was found so useful that "we kept adding unrelated projects" too to the kitty. Accountant general Delhi Rajveer Singh had retorted saying the government should not attempt to filter information on the ground of whether the projects are Games related or not. The government now plans to update the CAG on the various heads that it had received funds under without which, Mehta says, it will not be possible for them to understand the issue. "We will tell them how much we got as budget for the Games, how much we gave to NDMC and MCD and how much we got under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The problem is funds were sanctioned in bulk and not project wise so they were spent on both city development and CWG," Mehta explained.
The empowered committee dates back to 2008 when the need was first felt for separate monitoring of Games projects. It had 70-80 officers and the marathon monthly meetings would last 2 to 2.5 hours. "The empowered committee's role was to review Games projects but we found the exercise very useful in overall monitoring which is how these 75 projects came to be reviewed. In fact, I am now planning to recommend to the government that the committee should be revived and the exercise continued," Mehta said.
