Jharkhand Games: Groundwork zero

Chief secy says fund no problem, but committee hasn8217;t met since CM Koda assumed charge

Ask Chief Minister Madhu Koda if Jharkhand is prepared to host the 34th National Games, pat comes his reply.8221;We will host it.8221; But his government8217;s grand plans, passed on by his predecessor Arjun Munda, as per the 8216;host city contract8217; signed among the three parties 8212; Indian Olympic Association IOA and Jharkhand Olympic AssociationJOA and the state government here on July 26,2005 8212; is raising a lot of dust.

As per the agreement, the state government is to build the required infrastructure for the Games, organise sport events in Ranchi and Jamshedpur and prepare the state teams for the 2007 Games.

After protests by some Adivasi groups over construction in Morahabadi and on the outskirts of Ranchi subsided last week, JOA secretary SM Hashmi met the state secretary NN Sinha here yesterday. But nobody knows the outcome of their meeting, though the billboards put up early this year when Munda was at the helm announcing the National Games next year, have gathered rust. The organising committee, headed by the Chief Minister, had not met since Koda took charge on September 18.

In fact, Jharkhand needs to have a khel gaon with 8,000 flats and a large athletics stadium besides three indoor venues, swimming pool, tennis court, velodrome, and a shooting range to conduct the events. It also needs 2,000 rooms in hotels for the delegates and guests who are expected to arrive from different parts of the country during the Games.

The project cost was estimated at Rs 450 crore. Hashmi and Sinha say the fund was not a problem. 8220;With Tata Steel contributing Rs 150 crore and the Centre making available Rs 67 crore, the state government was ready to pump in the rest Rs 233 crore,8221; said Sinha.

But the hotels and guest houses available to the state government have less than 1000 rooms and the builders engaged to construct a khel gaon, stadia, velodrome, swimming pool and flats have made it clear that they will not be able to complete the construction work before the yearend.

In fact,the delay in hosting these prestigious Games is nothing new. Punjab and Andhra Pradesh were to play host to to the Games in 2000 and 2001. But they did it in 2001 and 2002, respectively.Even Assam, schedueld to host the 33rd Games in 2006, is set to host them in February 2007.

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To compensate the delay and get its go-ahead for organising the Games,the Assam government was asked to pay up Rs 1 crore as penalty to the IOA, though this was later waived.