Delhi ready for CWG probe, says Dikshit

NEW DELHI - The Delhi government was ready for probe by the investigating agencies into irregularities in the preparations for the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said here Friday.

The Delhi government was one of the agencies besides the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), involved in preparations for the Oct 3-14 mega sporting event.

In run-up to the Games, the city government took up 77 projects. But with various agencies starting investigations, the Delhi government wants only 26 projects to be probed.

“We are ready for it,” Dikshit said to a query as to whether the government was prepared for the probe.

However, she evaded a question whether the government will allow scrutiny of all the 77 projects or only 26.

Earlier this month, Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta held a meeting with the Delhi government, MCD and NDMC officials and asked the officials to cooperate with the probe agencies.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) are probing irregularities in projects of the Public Works Department (PWD) as well as tourism, transport and health departments during preparations of the mega event.

The city government spent around Rs.16,500 crore to create and spruce up the capital’s infrastructure for the Games.

The high-level Shunglu Committee was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Oct 15 to look into the allegations of corruption in Commonwealth Games. It has been asked to submit its report within three months.