Common Wealth Games - Demand For Accountability

Petition: Common Wealth Games 2010 - Citizens Demand Financial Accountability Hon’ble Chief Justice Of India Supreme Court New Delhi Hon’ble Justice Kapadia, As Indians we are ashamed when the international media observes that India which boasts of the world’s best management and technical skills and aspires to become a super power soon, failed to deliver a world class games facilities, even though it had 7 years to plan and execute the program. The misdeed of a few greedy, arrogant and unaccountable persons is today the cause of utter shame for the whole country. The good performance of our athletes does little to mitigate this shame. As Indians we are angry that so much of our public money has been wasted due to mismanagement and misappropriation. The quantum of funds wasted could have provided much needed relief to the poor - housing, sanitation and healthcare and schooling to the low income groups as well better infrastructure for Delhi. All this should have been achieved on top of a world class CWG facility, which should have been commissioned and tested well before the arrival of delegations. Yet large parts of Delhi remain in a mess due to incomplete and shoddy work undertaken in a last minute rush. This shoddy work is likely to require as much fund to rectify as the original spend. Perpetrators pat each others back on a job well done (or is it for the loot?) whilst the tax payer citizen suffers loss of income and inconvenience. We are angry because despite so many allegations of misappropriation of funds, allegations of nepotism and abuse of authority, there is no one (in a position of authority) willing to accept responsibility or give assurance that the guilty will be held to account. The track record of ‘official’ investigations by agencies such as CBI, and CVC has been that their work amounts to an eyewash. We witness each day a callous disregard for the rule of law and lack of accountability, by those responsible for the governance machinery. Wrong elements get encouraged to break every law with impunity and indulge in an increasing number of scams. Citizens of India are no longer willing to accept such excesses and demand that the culprits be identified and suitably punished, starting with CWG program. We demand that allegations of financial impropriety are thoroughly and independently investigated. We demand that respect for the law of the land be restored through appropriate punitive action, with no shelter for the guilty, whatever their stature. We also wish to see a radical shift in the way such programs are supervised. Politicians and bureaucrats who are not trained in professional management of programs must restrict their role to governance issues and agencies such as CAG and CVC should be fully empowered to enforce recognised procedures and financial controls. We appeal to you for help with instituting the investigation of facts, by a Court empowered ‘special investigation team’ made up of eminent citizens and experts, headed by a recently retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. This team should have the authority to appropriate whatever data and evidence without hindrance. A thorough investigation must go into the following details, if it is to establish guilt beyond any shadow of doubt so that punitive action can follow. A. Monies spent on CWG infrastructure and related projects 1. Details of each project/ purchase by each agency involved in creating the CWG infrastructure, to include budgets and over/under spend, tendering and bidding details, monies actually spent, identities of those responsible at each stage from specification of requirement to inviting bids, placing orders, supervision of progress and authorising payments and sign off of completion. 2. Details of contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers used on each project, to include business and its ownership, relationship to any OC member, financial details of the bidder/ supplier (e.g. PAN number, recent IT return, immovable property), age of business. 3. Details of expenditure by each agency involved on CWG related projects (such as beautification of Delhi) and purchases. This relates to work carried out by civic agencies such as MCD, DDA, NDMC, PWD etc to include in addition to above, source of funds, over/under budget expenditure, responsibility for financial control and reporting. B: CWG Organisation, Controls, Coordination & Financials 1. Details of the CWG bid, to include the budget details, the team constituted to supervise the program and its continuing role if any and details of and reasons for any change. 2. Organising committee & Its make up to include details of senior office holders and staff with any relationship to senior OC members, terms of engagement, date of engagement, skills and experience, selection criteria, defined responsibility. 3. Reporting and coordination of activities, including the defined role of the sports ministry and OC, coordination procedure in place, reporting structures, controls in place and frequency of report/ review, progress monitoring, responsibilities defined in the structure and how OC, SM and PM kept informed of progress and spend. 4. Budget & funding sources of OC to include approved figures and their revision, funding sources and contribution from member countries, monitoring and reporting procedures in place. 5. Expenditure by OC to include monies spent on each item, spend vs. budget analysis, supplier selection process, quality spec and control, progress monitoring, responsibilities for order placement, authorising payment, sign-off of completion.