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Congress refutes corruption charges in CWG 2010

The Central government defended itself over CWG 2010, saying that eighteen out of twenty Games venues had been cleared.

Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Central government on Monday refuted charges of corruption and impropriety in the preparations for Commonwealth Games 2010, during a Lok Sabha debate following a volley of questions from the opposition benches. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari refuted the opposition’s claims that over Rs 1 lakh crore had been spent in preparing for the CWG 2010, saying that the expenditure for the Games was just around 4,800 crores. He also vehemently denied any corruption in the Games and said that the guilty, if any, would be brought to justice. Talking about the Central Vigilance Commission’s report on the CWG, Tewari said that the CVC report was just preliminary and indicative. He also played down the controversy around the Queen’s Baton Relay, saying that the alleged QBR corruption was just 0.07% of the total budget and the government was looking into any abnormalities in the handling of the event. BJP leader Kirti Azad earlier tried to corner the Sports Minister on recent reports that there was corruption in the handling of the Games. Azad charged that the government was trying to shield those who were guilty. He cited the CVC report that clearly pointed out large-scale corruption.Azad also raised the issue of many of the CWG venues not receiving any NOCs till now and rued the loss of home advantage for the Indian athletes. He also asked the government to account for the expenditure of CWG 2010. JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, meanwhile, was curt in his comments that the CWG was the smallest of all the mega-events, even less important than the Asiad, and such money should not have been wasted on it. He also urged the House to move beyond the imperialist mindset. Earlier in the morning, acting on the persistent plea of the Sports Ministry, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee terminated the services of its tainted Joint Director General T S Darbari in the wake of the corruption scandal.Darbari, who had been suspended pending an inquiry after his name cropped up in alleged corruption during the Queen`s Baton Relay`s launch in London, has been told to hand over the charge to Additional Director General VK Saxena.