By Ravi Kant Singh, IANS
Hyderabad : With little money, the Indian Army put together its own resources for the thousands of athletes taking part in the biggest Military World Games held so far.
From linen to food to housing, cutting corners without cutting on quality posed a Herculean task. But the organisers led by retired Lt. Gen. Ashok Kapur rose to the occasion. He explained how.
“The Services Sports Control Board gave the army’s Southern Command the responsibility for the games soon after the 2007 games were awarded to India by the international council for military sports,” Kapur told IANS.
The first questions: where and how would these athletes be housed? How would they be fed?
“The problem was that all these items could not be purchased from the budgets we had been given,” said Kapur, who retired from the army in May but continues in an honorary capacity for these games.
In his effort to understand how other organisers managed such events, the officer visited Melbourne, which had just hosted the Commonwealth Games.
“I then learnt that the organisers had actually bought the linen and blankets from China and instead of spending money on washing and cleaning them, just gifted them to the Australian armed forces,” said the former Southern Command chief of staff.
“We did exactly the reverse. The Indian Army has its supply depots all over the country and it was not difficult to source these things from there. After the games they all go back to the army where they will be cleaned and used.”
Providing food to over 12,000 people was another major headache.
“The initial proposal was to use army resources in and around Hyderabad since we have the Southern Command headquarters here. But we felt this would be better handled professionally and hired caterers whom we are now paying Rs.1,100 per head per day to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for 12,000 people.”
That sent the expenses through the roof, leaving the organisers in the red. But the free linen and blankets helped bring down the costs by nearly 75 percent.
“There was also the problem of suitable accommodation. The Andhra Pradesh government promised to provide 2,000 rooms so we had to make arrangements for the rest. Fortunately, there were barracks under construction at the various centres for the jawans.
“These were obviously not suitable for foreign guests so we decided to refurnish them to house participants. Since the rooms were already under construction, we needed only a small amount of money to upgrade and bring them to the required standards,” said Kapur, who moves on to his hometown Pune after these games to take over the preparations for next year’s Commonwealth Youth Games.
“The armed forces know how to cut costs without affecting quality,” Kapur added with a laugh.