By IANS,
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Thursday evening hold a meeting with Sports Minister M.S. Gill and Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy to discuss preparations for the Commonwealth Games amid criticism from countries participating in the sporting event.
An official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) told IANS that the meeting would begin around 5 p.m. at Manmohan Singh’s official 7 Race Course residence.
The prime minister has intervened again after a foot overbridge near the main Games venue Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium collapsed Tuesday, the day several foreign contingents complained about the Games village with some describing it as “filthy and unlivable”. The next day, Wednesday, a portion of the roof in the complex also collapsed.
The accidents came as a major blow to India’s preparations for the Games, with the concerned authorities drawing flak from all quarters.
In a bid to fix things before the Oct 3-14 Games, only 10 days away, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit visited the village to take stock of the situation Thursday morning. Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, who is overall in-charge of the completion of the ongoing work at the village, also met Delhi’s Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna.
Some 7,000 participants and officials from 71 countries and territories are expected to attend the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games, India’s biggest sporting event after the 1982 Asian Games