At a meeting of the Union Cabinet on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cut short sports minister MS Gill?s attempt to present his version on the preparations for the Commonwealth Games (CWG). This was viewed by colleagues as a clear snub to the senior minister in the wake of mounting criticism over the Games.
There were no raised voices at the 15 minute-long meeting but Singh?s firm ?no? to Gill made it amply clear that he was not amused by the sports minister?s attempt to defend his position, sources said. Prime Minister Singh was forced to step in once again and hold a review meeting yesterday on the CWG preparations at his residence in which urban development minister Jaipal Reddy, Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna besides Gill, were present. Top officials including cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar, home secretary GK Pillai and national security advisor Shivshanker Menon were also present. He had held a similar review meeting last month.
In the meeting on Friday, the Prime Minister made it clear to Gill that any briefing was totally unnecessary since the matter had already been discussed at length yesterday. Gill, who had come armed with a file with details of the preparations, sought to raise the matter at the end of the cabinet meeting, saying he wanted to apprise them on the matter.
The Prime Minister?s concern over shoddy preparations, sources said, was evident in yesterday?s meeting when he literally threw up his arms in exasperation over the inability of those in charge to tackle even minor issues relating to housekeeping. ?What is the problem,? he asked those present including Gill, said a source present at the meeting.
To overcome the lack of adequately experienced and qualified staffers at the Games village who were able to conform to international standards, it was decided to source supervisors from five-star hotels from different parts of the country.
Sources said options only became limited after home secretary GK Pillai pointed at security concerns, saying that unless IB clearances were secured, it would not be possible to deploy new staffers at any of the Games? sites. One of the officials further pointed out that the reason for appointing MCD employees as supervisors initially at the Games village was only because they had been security cleared. In fact, he added that top bureaucrats including secretaries in the government were exasperated at the security checkups they themselves had to undergo while visiting the Games sites.
The sources, however, said there was no discussion on concerns voiced by the diplomats from Commonwealth countries at the meeting.