By IANS,
New Delhi: Member of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) and senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra slammed the Games Federation for its insistence on bringing in more experts from overseas. “These are our Games and we know how to make it successful,” he asserted.
Malhotra, who is also the president of the Archery Association of India – one of the sport where CGF wants the Organising Committee to have a foreign technical expert – also said there was no need for a technical review panel.
“We are capable of hosting the Games, let there be no doubt about it. If there is anything lacking, then we will take care. But do not force us to have more foreign experts. This is not acceptable,” Malhotra said Thursday.
“India is a sovereign country and these are not imperial games. We are already spending so much money in hiring international experts in areas where we don’t have the expertise. Do not expect us to hire more of them. If you run everything, then what are we there for? This is our Games.”
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Thursday rebuffed the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) decision to appoint a high-powered technical panel to monitor the progress of the Games every month, saying there are already too many agencies overseeing the preparations.
The decision was taken at the IOA executive council meeting Wednesday, two days after CGF president Michael Fennell, in a strongly-worded statement, listed areas of concern and announced the setting up of the review panel that was to start functioning from January.
“Right from the Prime Minister Office to the Group of Ministers, there are so many agencies involved in monitoring the preparation of the Games. We don’t think there is need of a technical review panel that will put us on tenterhooks every month,” said the senior vice-president of IOA.