Not so long ago, critics of Commonwealth Games 2010 were touting Military World Games (MWG) 2007 as a model for conduct of international sporting events. But now it emerges that MWG 2007 were not clean either.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled a report in parliament on Friday on violation of financial rules and regulations in the conduct of MWG.
“An approval for Rs50 crore as against an estimate of Rs138 crore was taken from the competent financial authority, and the financial arrangements have resulted in unspent balances and diversion to non-public funds,” it said.
MWG were hosted by Indian armed forces under the aegis of International Military Sports Council (CISM) in Hyderabad and Mumbai from October 14-21. Of the 6,000 athletes who participated in the Games from more than 100 countries in 17 disciplines, 25% were Olympic medal winners. The Andhra Pradesh government, the army’s Pune-based Southern Command and the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command were also in charge of the event.
CAG pointed out that the ministry of defence (MoD) had sanctioned Rs50 crore by March 2007 to Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), which sought Rs19 crore more. This money was made available by defence public sector units on the direction of the department of defence production. As per rules, projects exceeding an outlay of Rs100 crore need cabinet approval, but in this case sanctions for Rs138 crore were granted at the ministry level.
The Andhra government was paid in advance with no formal agreement and could not provide bills or details of services provided. CAG observes that Rs4.76 crore received on account of charges realised from extra CISM contingents was diverted to non-public funds between September 2007 and June 2008.
This despite two years of intense planning and preparation, formation of numerous panels.
