CWG and Work Culture

You reading the blog with attention and taking time out to comment on it is really awesome. These feedbacks are what creates supportive environment in which I am able to go beyond my personal level of vitality for the blogs. Thank you.

Revisiting the Commonwealth Games preparation, only 365 days left to go. This is a big challenge before Delhi our city and our commitment to something bigger and better and of  international quality. Besides this the sports facilities of international qualities that the Games will support would continue to benefit our youth even after the Games. We will have 71 Nations participating in the Games and accompanying them and their coaches and other support staff will be spectators. There would be tourists not just international but domestic from other states too. We have begun restoration of our historic monuments, like the various Lodhi tombs and redevelopment of Connaught Place. This would not have happened other wise.

With tourists comes traffic. Infrastructure development is essential to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. Just today we saw the chaos, that the blocking off roads for the visiting Commonwealth Games federation representatives has caused. We can see this as a price worth the international status for our city or we can say why bother. Let us choose, make a commitment to something larger than our every day existence, and make this future happen. Let us be all in it together. Let us do it!

Our Chief Minister was very honest and truthful about sharing her nervousness and confidence of making up for the lost time. Very frank about the issues before her government especially the multiplicity of authority and coordination between them and her commitment on behalf of her government to give their best. But most importantly her accepting the concerns of Commonwealth Federation Chief about the indiscipline and power shortage as issues to be tackled rather than as criticism against the existing administration, to be defended against.

It is interesting to note that in our country the public works culture has created a certain breed of civil contractor for any public works. They see the visit to the construction site, by authority accountable for ensuring quality, as an occasion to pumping up the ego of bureaucrats, so that the quality of the work done, becomes relatively less important.

Setting up microphones, pandals and an audience to clap during the site visit is a typical sight. We did see these Pandals and microphones put up to greet the international inspecting team, but it seemed to have had limited impact. Here is may be an occasion for introspection of our own public works culture.