Should India not host the Commonwealth Games?
Sharad Yadav directly protests against India hosting the Commonwealth Games. Reports Rediff:
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Yadav said participation in the Games is wasteful expenditure and a country like India can ill-afford to spend such a huge amount of money for a few medals. “I understand that the Indian Olympic Committee, headed by Suresh Kalmadi, spent Rs 23 crore on an eleven-minute song and drama sequence, in which several film actors took part, at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games…
“What is the big deal in hosting games like the Commonwealth Games in India? What do we gain, barring a few medals and some IOA officials having a good time? I believe that the huge amount of money that would be spent on hosting the Games could have been used for giving grants to Delhi University and other academic institutions of excellence. We could have created more IITs and IIMs with that fund.
So essentially, Yadav raises two points:
1) Public money should not be wasted.
2) Public money should be used in activities for development of the nation.
Public money should indeed not be wasted. Amit Varma spoke on the Bollywood stars being funded by public money a few days ago:
What gets my (constantly aggrieved) goat is that the Rs 29 crore comes from the taxes that I pay, and is also drawn from indirect taxes paid by millions of people too poor to even buy the ticket for a Saif Ali Khan film. This is a shocking and unnecessary use of public money.
Now we move to the more interesting second point. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has a lot of money, and so would not require cash for bidding for a World Cup, whenever it would. The Indian Olympic Association does not have this cushion. So to undertake any venture at a large scale, it would need to use public money.
This venture should result in gains in financial terms apart from development of infrastructure which comes along with these games. Yadav implies that it would not happen when he says: “What do we gain, barring a few medals and some IOA officials having a good time?” This aspect has to be investigated: whether Games are a profitable venture or not (usually they are profitable despite initial expenses for bidding, infrastructure).
If profitable, I do not understand Yadav’s contention. For money is needed for development. Profitable ventures such as hosting a Commonwealth Games can be the proponents of bringing in new money into the country. It is common knowledge how much hosting an Olympic, for example, boosts the economy of a nation. Just recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India wanted to host the Asian Games and Olympics in the near future.
Also, it is too late for Yadav to raise the issue. India cannot withdraw from hosting the Commonwealth Games now at this late stage when the contracts have been signed. I am all for raising issues but why not raise them when they can be resolved. Yadav’s raising points right now just points towards creating a furor and gaining attention. And we all know politicians thrive when they get attention.
Tags: Commonwealth Games 2010, Indian Sports, IOC, Public Money.
