International events like the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) in the national capital sit on many junctions?political, national, economic, social, etc. And an attempt has to be made to guide perceptions, failing which they will be formed willy-nilly, and usually for the worse. And it is here that both the much-maligned CWG organising committee and the government of the day?at the Centre as well as the state?seem to be failing squarely. Unlike the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, CWG is not a great product. But still, and notwithstanding the taint, it could have been sold better.
No wonder, CWG pains, rank inefficiency, incompetence and corruption have become all too palpable and tangible, with just about no redeeming feature in sight! Now it is no one?s case to defend the often undefendable organising committee (OC) headed by Suresh Kalmadi, with allegations of corruption flying thick and fast. But equally, the campaign against the games has completely been hijacked by a section of the will-see-no-good powerful Delhi media, which seems to have given its sense of proportion and objectivity a royal miss.
With under two months left before the opening ceremony, and no one defending the games?barring people who need to clear the thick plume of wrongdoings around their heads?and just about no one, least the citizens of Delhi, ?owning? it, speaks volumes about the public relations mess that emerging India?s showpiece global event finds itself in. For it is plain PR mismanagement that despite a large part of the Rs 40,000 crore CWG-related spending actually going into building the much needed civic infrastructure in the national capital region?from new Metro lines to low-floor buses?it is mere sub-text to the ?bigger? stories making headlines on ?blatant? corruption in spends involving game overlays?from soap dispensers to treadmills?a minuscule proportion of the total CWG budget!
True that the CWG doesn?t have the cachet Olympics or FIFA World Cup has?with countries hosting them treating it as their coming out parties much like South Korea in 1998, China in 2008 and South Africa earlier this year. With the British Empire long gone, many rightly question the whole point of the games, but then the question is seven years too late. The moot point is, could India have handled the games communication any better? Well, a big yes, for even a management intern can tell you that with smart marketing even an average product sells better.
Let?s start with category level communication?the CWG itself. Now any event where you?re judged by standards other than yours is good, and for all the shortcomings of the ?Empire games?, at least it has a 80-year history that could have been leveraged to build the sorely lacking excitement around the games in India. What gives any big sporting event its traction is the quality of participants?countries and individuals. Without a word from the OC on who all are coming, and there are quite a few big draws like Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Rebecca Adlington and Stephanie Rice, all one heard about were the dropouts?Usain Bolt, Lleyton Hewitt, Shelly-Ann Fraser and Chris Hoy.
Every mega sporting event, starting from the FIFA World Cup in South Africa down to the first Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1930, has been used to signal the host country or city?s global ambitions?political, cultural, economic, whatever. If there is one for CWG Delhi 2010, it is being held back almost as a state secret! Does anyone know what India is showcasing at the forthcoming games? Is it the country?s emergence as a global economic power, its soft power ? la yoga, its unbridled tourism potential, sporting prowess, a capital city that can hold its own amongst past hosts like Melbourne, London, Kuala Lumpur, pray just what?
Isn?t it strange that as people who develop stake even in most whimsical things?from some US senator labelling our IT icon Infosys as ?chop shop? for taking away local jobs, to an out-and-out commercially led Indian Premier League?CWG Delhi 2010 meets with a complete citizen hostility, and at best indifference? Not surprising, and not just because of the current climate of media-led witch-hunting around CWG, given that the organisers have failed to engage citizens with the games or to create any larger sense of shared excitement.
Make no mistake, every mega sports event host starts with its fair share of powerful group of opinion makers who are dead against such extravagant events. From Montreal, Sydney, Toronto, Barcelona to Kuala Lumpur, Olympic and CWG history is littered with naysayers who have often been proved right.
But by engaging with stakeholders?from citizens, pressure groups, think-tanks, distinguished sports persons et al?sometimes at the bid stage itself, most nations have been able to reduce citizen dissonance and build a broader ownership for their events.
There are many positives that are highlighted?from urban renewal, new sports infrastructure creation, new social spaces springing within the city?essentially highlighting future benefits, tangible and intangible, of current costs. No such effort is visible with CWG Delhi 2010 even now, with just 52 days to the event! In the absence of any communication from the OC, or sense of bigger ownership at the government level, is it any wonder that all one hears is about collapsing roofs, far from complete stadia, and yes, Rs 3,750 toilet-paper rolls!
shailesh.dobhal@expressindia.com
