'Kalmadi's private club gave Rs 61cr CWG tickets for free'

New Delhi, Apr 1: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed, 'Shunglu Committee' to probe into the alleged irregularities during Commonwealth Games in 2010 has come up with such revelations which once again indicted the part of sacked CWG organising committee (CWG OC) chief Suresh Kalmadi.

The investigating committee criticised Kalmadi's management team over misappropriate contracts, dubious acts of omission and commission. The Shunglu report chided that Kalmadi's OC had worked as a "private club" and also revealed that more than Rs 60 crore tickets were given for free, though general people did not get access to those tickets. Kalmadi and his aides were accused of approving these irregularities regarding free tickets distribution.

The probe report showed how the head of the ticketing agency, IRCTC - Sanjiv Mittal was removed from his post when he raised the issue about the free tickets distribution. The projected revenue from ticketing was assessed at Rs 100 crore, but the OC only managed to earn Rs 39 crore.

Showing irregularities in Kalmadi's management team, the Shunglu report stated, "The OC seemed to function as a 'club' where the criteria for recruitment and promotion seemed to be 'who knows who' rather than merit."

"There was extreme concentration of powers at the top and conflict of interest among OC officials. It was found the OC had serious governance problems due to an unwieldy general body with 500 members and a subservient executive board. The OC was synonymous with the chairman," the report added.

OneIndia News