By IANS,
New Delhi : Even as the CAG has slammed the Delhi government for lapses in awarding contracts for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Monday said the city hosted the sporting event successfully despite hurdles.
A Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report blamed her “active involvement” for causing a loss of over Rs.30 crore to the exchequer in Commonwealth Games-related projects.
“Delhi as the host city organised Commonwealth Games successfully last year. We achieved this marvellous success despite a number of obstacles, difficulties and apprehensions,” said Dikshit in her speech at an Independence Day function at Chhatrasal Stadium here.
Acknowledging the marked improvement in illumination levels on roads in the national capital, the CAG said that “the decision to use imported luminaries on selected ‘A’ category of roads was not based on technical parameters, but was taken with the active involvement of the chief minister, this resulted in avoidable expenditure of more than Rs.30 crore.”
In its report tabled in parliament, the CAG also said that the street beautification project was “ill-conceived and ill-planned”, resulting in a wasteful expenditure of over Rs.100 crore.
The CAG, which reviewed seven road and flyover projects, found that higher rate of profit and overhead charges led to higher cost baselines for potential bidders.
“We also found irregularities in award of some projects, including consideration of separate letters quoting a lump-sum amount and use of correction fluid in tender documents,” it said.
Defending herself, Dikshit said that the Games helped the government accelerate the pace of development and add world class infrastructure to the city.
“Hence, Delhi is today known as an international city,” she said.
“We did everything to avoid any disruption in developmental works during the Games. Our players brought laurels for the country. The Games also resulted in marching ahead in the direction of turning Delhi into a world class city,” she said.
The CAG’s report came on top of the prime minister-appointed Shunglu Committee’s findings on procedural violations by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna and the chief minister for alleged inadequacies in execution of projects.
Opposition parties demanded Dikshit’s resignation after the auditor’s report was presented in parliament.