'The Best Thing About Corruption As A System Of Governance Is That It Works So Well’ – Gregory David Roberts has rightly written in his book ‘Shantaram’ what today seems to be the well known thumb rule as far as Indian administration is concerned. In yet another striking but customary revelation, the Commonwealth Organizing Committee has been allegedly involved in host of foul activities that would not only fill up their own paunches but would go a long way in vitiating the repute of our Nation. The allegations regarding corruption involved in construction of stadia, distribution of tickets are sure to make India a laughing stock all around the world. And we Indians with our inherent quality of demeaning ourselves are leaving no stones unturned to make sure we are in the news for all the wrong reasons.
The news of how our country is impotent in organizing an event of such magnitude has been flashing all over some of our ‘credible’ news channels. Let’s face the fact first. Corruption does exist. I would like to stick my neck out and say that organizing any event at such a huge scale cannot remain absolutely corruption free. But the extent to which it has been magnified and glorified is only going to harm our image as country vying to host Olympics in near future. We always wonder how India, a country of 1 billion, is unable to produce a single athlete of Olympics stature. What we don’t take into account is how, for every single person trying to climb up the ladder, there are 10 people trying to plot his downfall!
I was casually browsing through a website which listed all the news pertaining to the games for the last 1 year. Unfortunately I couldn’t bump into any news that did actually show the games in a positive light. Again I have no idea what kind of signal are we trying to send to the outside world. Media’s obsession with negativity has attained a whole new level in the past decade. I guess in any other country these issues would have been brought to light but surely not at the expense of all the positive work carried out by the authorities. I still remember how we used to back our college in inter-collegiate competitions, brushing aside all the internal matters like teaching frailties, Internal grudges etc. Why should it be any different when it comes to our own country? How can we allow the magnificence and the richness of this country to be overshadowed by few thick-skinned bureaucrats who are nothing more than blood sucking parasites trying to acquire mileage at the cost of country's development?
Why can’t we highlight the impact the games will have in boosting the sporting spirit in India and encourage sports other than cricket? How many of us know that these Games are to be ‘solar powered’ and Reliance RIL Solar Group has implemented India’s first 1MW solar PV power plant to power a stadium? Why has there been no spotlight on the immense employment that these games have generated? How come no one is looking at amount of revenue the number of tourist flocking into the capital to watch the games will generate? Why is that we can’t take effort to exhibit sophisticated technology of international standards that is being used by the government along with private enterprise to renovate and repair new-grade separators, flyovers, bridges and roads? Why isn’t anyone looking at how these games will create an atmosphere for economic, social as well as political cooperation between the member nations?
Today, as we brace ourselves to host the third largest multi-sport event in the world, I am pretty clear that these games will surely be a success but how much they will contribute in restoring the dent created in India’s image is still hazy to me. The successful conduct of these games will go a long way in strengthening India's position as a 'Soft Power'. I sincerely hope that the concerned authorities will pull themselves to put together a scintillating show, and also that the media takes up a responsible role in portraying the games in a disciplined manner and finally, hoping that we can serve as the perfect hosts.
Post Script: In an “emotional appeal” with a visual of the Indian tricolor published in all leading newspapers on the weekend, industrialist Subrata Roy has flayed the “recent continuous and negative media coverage” that has left organizers and volunteers feeling “totally demoralized and dejected”. The media, Roy said, has overdone it, “causing very big damage in maligning the image of our country”.
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