CWG scam: PMO wants action in three months

HT Correspondents , Hindustan Times
New Delhi, April 12, 2011

The Prime Minister’s Office has started the process of identifying and acting against government functionaries responsible for irregularities during the Commonwealth Games.

 

The PMO on Monday sent the findings of the Shunglu committee probing the irregularities to the home ministry with the  mandate to decide on the action to be taken. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given the ministry three months to file its action-taken reports.
 
The inquiry panel led by former comptroller and auditor general VK Shunglu took six months to produce six reports on the roles of various stakeholders in organising the 2010 Games. The reports blame government agencies for lack of oversight, mismanagement and irregularities in the conduct of the event.
 
But many of the findings have come under criticism for inaccurate facts or conclusions that did not appreciate the circumstances. The ministry will have to factor these in and take a call accordingly.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit was the first to go public against Shunglu’s “one-sided” report and promised to send a rebuttal by May-end. Lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna has already pointed to holes in the panel’s facts and conclusions and the Delhi Development Authority, too, has absolved itself.

“There may have been irregularities but to be able to act against those responsible, one needs to accurately identify the factors and individuals responsible,” a government official said, explaining why three months would be needed to process reports that took less than six months to compile.

Government sources said the home ministry would not only coordinate and oversee the action to be taken against the Delhi government and bodies such as MCD and NDMC but central government departments such as sports and urban development, too.

“In case of a difference of opinion between the ministry and the department concerned on the action to be taken, the PMO will have the last word,” a ministry source said. Sources indicated the PMO initially intended to coordinate the processing of the reports. But there was a view that this may involve going in-depth into almost every charge levelled by the Shunglu committee. As the home ministry is the nodal ministry for all matters related to Delhi, it will have to shoulder this responsibility since it was not directly involved in the decision-making for various Games projects.

Courtesy:Hindustan Times