One Tent One Team

It was in the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad during the Sports Administration and Management Capsule Course Program in 2006, organized under the auspices of The University of South Australia, that we students were taught about the complexities of Organization and  Conduct of  multi discipline Sports Events. Mr Jeremy Evans, a Britisher and a Management Post Graduate working with The South Australia Olympic  Organization, was our course Director. I attended the Program as a sponsored student from the Indian Army (Directorate General of Military Training). This, essentially, to invest me with the detailed knowledge about my responsibilities as a critical functionary in the Organizing Committee for the Military World Games, 2007.

One aspect which glaringly emerged from the  instructions we received and imbibed during the course, was the stitching together of the numerous functions and responsibilities designated within the scope of the several Committees and Sub Committees, constituted to prepare, organize, conduct and deliver the  Mega Sporting Event. It is only when the Command and Control Organization is structured, aligned and staffed in keeping with the tenets of business/corporate best practices and functions as‘One Tent One Team’ that the challenge is overcome with efficiency, financial propriety and collective pride. That this did not happen in the case of the Organizing Committee ,X1X Commonwealth Games, Delhi  as has become apparent from the plethora of damning reports, both in the print and electronic media, is the essence of the Corruption and Scam in the Rs 70,000 Crore extravaganza.

The aftermath of  the XIX Commonwealth Games, Delhi is a series of investigations and enquiries by the Enforcement Directorate, Central Vigilance Commission, Income Tax Department and Central Bureau of Investigation. The main Opposition Party in the Parliament is demanding a probe and inquiry by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for such is the scale and audacity of the corruption. Public money has been siphoned, wasted, misused and swindled by some of those who were entrusted with the authority to utilize  it with due care,honesty and a sense of enduring accountability. From the bits and pieces of incriminating documentary evidence as has been shown by television news channels Times Now, Headlines Today, NDTV, CNN-IBN et al the trail of financial corruption is slowly but surely leading to the offices of the Organizing Committee and its Partners in the National Capital Region of Delhi.

The two most visible pictures in the build up to the Commonwealth Games were  those of  Suresh Kalmadi and Shera, though both  different as chalk is to cheese. The first arrogant, condescending and humbug while the latter friendly, self effacing and eminent. A contrast by any stretch of imagination but ironically giving the same message of National Pride and Grandeur. While the energy and spirit of Shera found expression in the performance of our athletes and the conduct of the Games, it was the Organizing Committee’s deeds of commission and omission, insulting justifications and presumption which eroded, damaged and derailed National Pride, as never before. An opportunity to build upon our achievements was wasted and lost, for want of integrity and character in those who enjoy public trust and are vested with authority.

All this could have been avoided, had the Government been prudent in listening to the saner voices within its own establishment and given due diligence in arriving upon the best practices approach for the organization and preparation of  this Mega Event. We bungled right from the beginning and a disaster was just waiting to happen. That it did not happen is a 21^st century miracle. The Sports Minister’s facetious comment in the Parliament about the event being an Indian Wedding , when the subject was being debated is a disturbing testimony of the seriousness with which we went about the entire exercise. While the International Media went ga ga about the Opening Ceremony, it is a choreographic wonder that about 7000 participants went into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on the eve of 04 Oct 2010, with just a SINGLE REHEARSAL. Suresh Kalmadi may indeed turn the best practices concept of management on its head and could be on the consultancy list for the 2012 London Olympics. Is Sir Sebastian Coe, the CEO for the coming Olympics, willing to shortchange time by seeking the expertise of Mr MS Gill and Suresh Kalmadi and subscribe to the poor substitute of management by ‘Jugaad’, an Indian equivalent for improvisation?  We hope,  Michael Fennel, Chairman Commonwealth Games Federation and Jacques Rogge, Chairman International Olympic Committee who went overboard with their praises for Kalmadi’s organizational skills in pulling off the XIX Commonwealth Games , will recommend him to Coe for manufacturing crisis, absurd cost escalations, cost over runs, corruption , mismanagement and ‘Jugaad’.

Brigadier (retd) Sarvesh Dutt Dangwal

15 B Shubash Road

Dehra Dun, 248001

Uttarakhand