The Organising Committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday insisted that the financial procedures it followed were transparent, and its chairman Suresh Kalmadi asserted that he was ready to face any inquiry.
“I am prepared to face any scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), or even a judicial probe, for all financial transactions being reported by the media, and all the people found guilty will be punished and brought to book,” Mr. Kalmadi said in a statement here.
“The financial procedures … are well laid down and transparent. Any proposal… prepared by any functional area head first gets vetted by the OC’s finance committee, which has two representatives of the government of India, and after that it is referred to the finance sub-committee comprising three senior representatives of the government. Thereafter, it is submitted to the Executive Board for its final approval,” Mr. Kalmadi said.
He clarified that individually he did not have any power over finances.
Mr. Kalmadi said the three-member committee formed to probe the allegations of irregularities would submit its report by Thursday.
On the charge that the Organising Committee had paid Rs.185 crore in commission to the Australia-based Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM), though the firm did not bring any sponsor, Organising Committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot said SMAM was not paid any commission so far, as it did not submit some required documents. “When we get those, we will give as per the procedure.”
The Organising Committee also denied accusations that it was spending huge sums on overlays. In a presentation made for the media, its joint director-general (overlays and venue development) A.K. Saxena said that after a proper bidding process, the items had to be rented from one source, as engaging different firms would have created a problem of coordination among them. “So, some items had to be lower in price and some higher.”
The rent was applicable from the day the firm committed itself to giving the items, and thus the period of rent came to around six months.
Citing certain examples of items procured, Mr. Saxena said treadmills and air-conditioners were costly because they were not ordinary ones, and were meant for specific use during a big event like the Commonwealth Games.
He rubbished the claim that a roll of toilet paper cost Rs. 3,750. “It is a box of 100 rolls, so a roll costs Rs. 37.50.”
