The World According to Kalmadi

The Commonwealth Games are almost here and Suresh Kalmadi is in no mood to tone down his claim that these will be the best Games ever.

With just 65 days to go and stinging criticism emanating from all quarters against the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, Suresh Kalmadi is the cynosure of all attention. Be it stadiums, catering contracts, withdrawal of athletes, rubble on Delhi roads, Kalmadi is the buck stopsman for the CWG 2010 Organising Committee (OC). Is he feeling the heat, can India truly deliver a reasonable Games, are the Games beyond salvation or will the withdrawal of athletes hurt the Games, were questions Open asked him in this two-hour long meeting at his house in New Delhi. For the first time, perhaps, Kalmadi answered all the uncomfortable questions posed. Excerpts from the conversation: 

Q CWG 2010 is a volcano waiting to erupt and you are at the centre of it all. Are you really confident that you can stage a reasonable show? 

Yes, I continue to be very confident. The infrastructure is ready or near ready. I am aware of the criticism in the media but I choose to ignore such criticism because most of it is ill-directed. If it’s constructive criticism, I will always welcome it. However, in most cases I am targeted without substance. The stadiums aren’t my responsibility. Most stadiums are under Sports Authority of India or built by them and the Sports Ministry and some are under Delhi Development Authority. I will be responsible when they are handed over to the OC. But I have never shied away from criticism and have tried to take things in my stride. I remain confident that we will stage a very good Games because the infrastructure is first rate. 

Q You say the infrastructure is near ready but we keep seeing roofs collapsing, floors getting damaged, tiles coming off, grass embankments at stadiums getting damaged and finally athletes getting injured after the recent rains. When will all this be sorted? 

Yes, you are right that the rains—really heavy downpours over the past few days—have damaged some of the stadiums. The false ceilings etcetera were damaged and floors have been damaged in some places. Nothing of this is major, however, and repair work is already on in full swing and will be complete within weeks. I am glad that the rains came down as heavily as they did, and we were exposed to these problems well in time. Had there been no rains now and we faced incessant rains during the Games, we may have had problems. The rains offered us an opportunity to… be prepared for any kind of eventuality. 

Q Coming to the budget question, it is well established that the Games are way over budget and will sting the ordinary tax payer because it is ultimately his or her money that is being utilised. Your take on this? 

Let’s first make one thing clear. I am the only person among the Games stakeholders who has been given money on loan by the Government. Everyone else, be it the Delhi Government or the Sports Ministry, have been given grants. So the Sports Ministry doesn’t need to bother about returning the money it has been given by the Government. In my case, however, I am committing to returning the loan of Rs 1,600 crore the Government has given me. I have raised Rs 650 crore in sponsorships and am trying to raise the rest of the money. 

If the media decides to tag all the money for the construction or airports, roads, stadiums into the budget of the OC and for the Games, it is unfair… But all of these facilities are for Delhi and also for India and will be used for the next few decades. Why should you tag [these] to the cost of hosting the Games? 

Q So you are then saying that the Games are not over budget? 

I am not saying that. Yes, initial estimates have been revised and in many cases we have spent more than initially anticipated. But these kinds of overspend happen all over the world in practically every mega event. But as I said to you, I am committed to paying back the loan I have been given by the Government.  

Q Mani Shankar Aiyar has repeatedly castigated the Games and you personally. Any reaction? 

Had Mani Shankar Aiyar been the sports minister, India would not have been able to host the Games. The stadiums would not have been built, the infrastructure would not have developed and Indian sport would have lost out. I don’t want to get into a personal slanging match, but all I’d say is that the CWG are for India. 

Q Almost every second day we see a star athlete pulling out, and your contention that the Games will be the best ever is beginning to sound hollow. Can you tell us who is coming, rather than the media speculating on who all aren’t coming? 

I can guarantee you this will be the biggest Games with 8,000 plus athletes and many world champions… on 3 September we will be sent the final lists of individuals participating in the Games. But we are regularly in touch with the 71 nations and trying to ensure we get the best. What we do know is Asafa Powell and Johan Blake, who have both done very well in the recent IAAF Championships, are likely to be here. Rebecca Adlington, the golden girl of the Beijing pool will come, as will Stephanie Rice from Australia. There will be a huge number of world champions from all parts of the world who will make Delhi home in October. You can take my word on this. 

Q What about the mess over the catering contract? Why is it that you have still not been able to give out the contract? 

Look, the principal contract that relates to catering at the Games Village is all done with. This was the major headache. The Australian company which had done the job in Melbourne will be doing it in Delhi, and all the equipment is being supplied by a British company. In fact, all of the equipment has reached Delhi and things are moving exactly to plan. Yes, the contracts for catering at the venues are yet to be given out, but that is because the initial tenders were all pegged at very high prices. Hence we had to re-issue the tender, and I can assure you that within days the contract will be given out. 

Q On the one hand you have a dearth of sponsors and are saying that you have limited funds for catering, and on the other you are spending Rs 50 crore to rent a helium balloon for a day at the opening ceremony. Isn’t this extravagance, in the very least? 

At every mega event there is some unique feature associated with the opening ceremony that adds to the gloss of the ceremony. The helium balloon will cover three-fourths of the stadium and will reflect lighting that will make the ceremony more appealing to all who will be watching. There are video effects that will be radiated from it and it will be spectacular. We will be testing the aerostat in London on the 17th of August and remain confident that the country will love the opening ceremony. Besides this balloon etcetera, AR Rehman is doing the theme song, Ranjit Barot is composing music for a segment, Hariharan is doing the same, leading maestros are training troops of dancers who will be performing and Javed Akhtar, Prasoon Joshi and Shyam Benegal are ideating on the ceremony. You can’t get better than this. The money is being well spent and I remain accountable for all spends I am sanctioning. 

Q I can tell you that the average Delhiite is hardly in a mood to welcome the Games. For the average man on the street, it is an act of indulgence we can ill afford. Why isn’t there any conscious attempt at community integration? 

There is a very large volunteer force in place and we are also undertaking programmes to spread the message of the Games to schools. Anyone interested in helping out and becoming a volunteer has been welcomed and we are trying to link up Delhi schools and colleges to ensure that the masses of Delhi, especially the youth, are part of the Games. We want to make it Delhi’s Games, and youth is key to us achieving our goal. You are not right in saying there is no excitement—for we receive many applications from students wanting to know how to help out. 

Q If you see social networking sites, you will only find negatives about the Games. It is an atmosphere of gloom, that India is about to shame itself in front of the world. Why has it come to this, if everything is on track? 

In 1982 we just had one Doordarshan. Now we have 100 television channels and radio stations. If you broadcast good things about the Games, people will not want to watch. Negative publicity results in growing TRPs. It is only natural that channels are going for us because they are concerned about their TRPs. But I can tell you with certainty that India will surely stage a very good show come October. See what’s happened with the baton relay. Unlike in Beijing, the baton has travelled the world without a single untoward incident. Why aren’t you guys giving us credit for these things? 

Q While I am pleased to see that you remain confident, I can tell you that I am genuinely under-confident and remain concerned about our ability to stage what you are saying will be the best Games. I will be delighted if I am proved wrong. 

I can guarantee that India will be proud of the Games. It will be the nation’s best and biggest-ever sports event and you should then give credit to the OC and stop criticising us. It has indeed been a challenge since the time we got the bid in 2003. People were of the view that developing nations aren’t equipped to host an event like this, and it is on us to prove them wrong. With people like Perry Crosswhite from Australia turning around and saying that Delhi is on track, I don’t see any reason to panic. The media criticism is only helping us get stronger and put up a show that will stop critics in their tracks. Now the countdown has begun and it is time to deliver on all our promises.

Commonwealth GamesgamesSuresh Kalmadi