7,500 VVIPs,1,500 delegates: Hectic days for protocol panel

The invitees include the President,Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and,sources said,invitations have been sent out to Robert and Priyanka Vadera.

The protocol team of the Games Organising Committee is busy handling this marathon exercise of sending out invitation cards and getting all the entire list of invitees accredited.

There are about 59,000 seats in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Of these,only about 37,000 are actually available for spectators as,besides Indian VIPs,seats have also been reserved for foreign delegates and others. Moreover,there are over 1,000 foreign invites — 16 delegates will be received from each of the 71 countries. Delegates will also visit from all 17 sports federations which are scheduled during Commonwealth Games.

Other than this,the Organising Committee has also made commitment to sponsors. There will also be around 2,000 ‘seat kills’,those rendered useless due to presence of cameras or other equipment.

“This is a norm in case of any event of such a magnitude,” said Aslam Sher Khan,Joint DG,Protocol. “One slip in protocol is more visible than any other problem.”

Sources said the foreign delegates will be received at the aerobridge at IGI Airport and there will be separate queues to get immigration clearance for them. The senior delegates,meanwhile,will get dedicated cars and there will be nearly 300 volunteers who will work round-the-clock with them as liaison officers. These delegates,sources said,will also be taken on a free trip to Taj Mahal in Agra.

Clubbing ANTHEMS
Only the victorious will get to hear the national anthem of his or her country. The Protocol department of Commonwealth Organising Committee has been working for the last two years on collecting the national anthems of each of 71 countries.

Each country has sent its respective anthem. “We get each anthem verified from the particular embassy in written so that there are no protocol goof-ups,” said Aslam Sher Khan,Jt DG. The anthem of the nation that wins maximum number of gold medals is played during the victory ceremony.