Author: Rohini Singh
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 2, 2010
Introduction: Forget the stadiums,Kalmadi
& Co should rather build the worlds costliest gym by leasing jogging machines
at an astounding 10 Lakh
IF YOU have a mania for fitness and want nothing
less than the very best treadmill, Harrods of London can sell you the exercise
machine for 10,000, or about 7 lakh. Now, how much do you think Suresh Kalmadi
and his Commonwealth Games organising panel should pay to rent rent, mind
you, not buy a treadmill for 45 days If you discovered that they are paying
9,75,000 in taxpayer money just to hire a treadmill for a month and a half,
would you not be exercised by it?
If you are, you may want to rest a little
and recover your poise. How about on a chair being hired by Mr Kalmadi and
his cohorts at 8,378 apiece Or how about cooling yourself off with drink from
a 100-litre refrigerator which the Congress politician and his colleagues
are hiring for 42,202 each?
The deals for the chairs, treadmills and refrigerators
are just a sampling of the common-sense-defying contracts that have been awarded
for Delhi 2010, which is less than two months away and enveloped in a thick
cloak of scandal. Mr Kalmadi has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that he
has nothing to do with the projects that have attracted the attention of the
Central Vigilance Commission. But the deals for the overlays the treadmills,
chairs, refrigerators and such-like that form part of the temporary infrastructure
meant only for the duration of the Games have Mr Kalmadis fingerprints on
them. They have been cleared by the Organising Committee, of which he is the
chairman.
The overlays deals total about 650 crore and
have been awarded to four contractors, three of them having an Indian and
foreign partner each. The most lucrative deals, worth 230 crore, have gone
to the PICO Deepali consortium, documents in possession of ET show. Deepali
Design and Exhibits, the Indian partner, is founded by Vinay Mittal, the nephew
of BJP's tentwallah Sudhanshu Mittal. Other companies which have won contracts
include GL Meroform, Nussli, a Swiss firm and the ESG Arena D Art Indo consortium.
