Commonwealth Games infrastructure will be ready on time: Kapil Sibal

Seeking to dispel apprehensions surrounding the Commonwealth Games, Union minister Kapil Sibal has said that all works related to the mega sporting event will be completed in time.

Sibal expressed hope that the entire infrastructure will be in place within the six weeks left for the Games.

"Will you not wait for six weeks to pass judgement. Let's not degenerate India. Let's not destroy India's credibility," human resource development minister Kapil Sibal told Karan Thapar in CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme.

"Perhaps the stadiums you will see, will be the better than any stadium in the world," he claimed.

There are certain Games-related issues which could have been addressed earlier, Sibal said, assuring the allegations of corruption will be looked into.

On reports of foodgrains rotting in godowns in some parts of the country, Sibal said though they were wrong, the volume being talked about in public domain was "highly exaggerated".

"I agree grain should not rot. Some portions have rotted. Government carries the blame. But lets not blow it out of proportion. The volume given in public domain is highly exaggerated numbers."

The inflation was a matter of concern, the Minister said, but dismissed suggestion that it had damaged the Government's credibility.

"As I said inflation is an issue. We accept it. If you look at the last several years, there is a global dimension to it. We are part of the global market. There are some factors on global market that impacts inflation on which we have little control," he said.

However, he hoped that with record output the inflation will come down to five per cent by the year-end.

Asked if prime minister Manmohan Singh was wise enough over his "long silence" on the unrest in the Kashmir Valley, Sibal retorted "the prime minister knows when to speak".

"The prime minister understands the hurt of Kashmir. He wants to reach out to the people of Kashmir. The government knows when it should speak. The Prime Minister knows when to speak," he said.

Sibal said the Centre was letting the Jammu and Kashmir government deal with the situation.

He said much of what happens in Kashmir happens because of certain complex factors which need not neccessarily be attributed to within Kashmir itself.

"The prime minister speaks when he needs to speak. He has rightly spoken and he spoken timely," he said.

Sibal also dismissed suggestions that railway minister Mamata Banerjee's remarks at the recent Lalgarh rally and the presence of Maoist elements there had undermined the Centre's strategy against the Naxals.

"Whether Mamata encouraged them (the Maoist) or did not, I dont know. I am certainly not embarrassed by her speech. If Mamata made a speech and if people are unhappy, people are free to criticise. I don't think government has been undermined by that," he said.

Sibal said the home minister had made clear the Government's stand against Maoists and its concern was to take action against them.

The Union minister expressed hope that problems related to Right to Education Act will be taken care of in the next three years and "every person will be literate by 2020".

"Within five years every child in the age of six will be in school," he said.