What is the state of preparedness for the Commonwealth Games?
I've been a minister for about 75 days. All major decisions pertaining to the Games were taken by the previous government. Five years have gone by since the Melbourne Games. And we're not that far away from October 2010.
I don't envisage that I will have to take any major decision at this stage. My job is to see that the preparations, the stadia, coaching, training, the Games complex, etc, are all completed in good time. The Games should be held to the full satisfaction of all 10,000 people who will take part, the officials, visitors, etc, so that everyone talks about how well hosted the Games were. This has been my project from day one.
I have created a harmonious forum. I take a meeting of everyone involved in the Games at the beginning of every month. Everyone means the engineers, the architects, the Delhi bureaucracy, the chief minister, officials of the Delhi Development Authority, even the Delhi University people. Suresh Kalmadi of the organising committee comes with his people. We start at 10am and go on till 2pm, discussing every aspect of the Games, any problems that anyone might have so that it can be resolved on the spot. My joint secretary sends the agenda in advance so that everyone knows what we're going to discuss. Minutes are taken and sent almost immediately.
I've found this approach highly beneficial since I was the chief election commissioner. The decisions were unanimous and time never got wasted. There was no tension.
In the last two months or so, I have visited almost every stadium to understand the problems on the spot. Earlier this week, I went to the Tughlakabad Firing Range. I found that the construction hadn't started, but it will start now. I take everyone along, engineers, architects, rifle people...there are a hundred problems of the spot. The engineer may have a different view, the architect may differ. I don't hesitate in taking decisions. It is not my habit to leave things for others to decide. I take a decision and also responsibility for that decision.
You are looking at a massive financial commitment
Well, the Cabinet has just sanctioned Rs 678 crore for coaching. Whether it is the finance minister or the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, I have hotlines to both of them. In fact, I often say, whether it is a mantri or a santri, I have a hotline to them all because I am a former santri and a current mantri. And why shouldn't the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission speak to me? He and I play golf together, after all.
I made a point at the Cabinet meeting. The scale of funding, I said, must be according to our requirement. It is not that the finance ministry and the government don't have problems. Oil prices are going up, inflation is rising, there are all sorts of problems. The finance ministry and the government have a money view. But I also need funding. For instance, this year's outlay for coaching was Rs 30 crore. I am asking for a sanction of Rs 330 crore. Next year, I will get a sanction of Rs 200-plus crore. The following year it will be Rs 300-plus crore.
Normally, the finance ministry and the Planning Commission are not used to writing cheques for these kinds of amounts. But they have shown unique alacrity in giving money to the sports ministry for a unique purpose. On my part, I have promised that the money will be spent properly, quickly and constructively.
In an event of this size, everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Is there something that worries you, something that you think could present a problem?
Look, what I am organising is a daughter's marriage. There are a thousand things to be done. I have to make sure the laddus don't run out, the garlands are fresh, every guest is looked after... I am that character in that film, Monsoon Wedding, who is the father, the role that Naseeruddin Shah played. Things have to be put together, they have to be perfect, and my anxiety will remain till the flag march is held, the president of India takes the salute and the guests are all sent home.
So there will be no tears at this vidaai We will only go to bed properly once the last guest has left. That is in our culture.
As for the problems, in our system there are checks and blocks in powers and sanctions, whether it is allotting money or addressing engineering problems. You have to take permission from a thousand agencies: The Delhi government says something, the Urban Arts Commission says something else. In this culture, we have accepted the challenge of hosting a date-bound event. But so far I have seen no one say: 'This can't be done'.
What is your general philosophy in running the Ministry of Sports?
I am a sportsman. I've played everything from boxing to cricket to tennis to golf. So I watch sporting events closely any way and have taken to doing so even more deeply since I've become a minister. For instance, I know that there's a young girl in Tamil Nadu who has qualified in discus in the games that are going on. India's money should be used to promote games that are inexpensive, can be played anywhere and with minimum of fuss.
Look at Tendulkar's kit. Do you think anyone can afford it? I was a cricketer when I was young. I wanted a bat from Gun and Moore, the famous English batmakers. My father couldn't afford one. I too will go to celebrate the 25 years of India's World Cup victory, but cricket is not the game for every Indian.
So what is the alternative?
Football. All you need is level ground and a ball. It can be played at any altitude. In our time, you needed a puncture kit, now you don't need even that. You can play on a rough ground or on a sandy ground. Maybe this is why we used to be very good at the game. After all, we did reach the semifinals in the 1956 Olympics. Then why are we 146 now?
Volleyball is another such game. Or basketball for that matter, for all you need is a cemented court. Any panchayat can do that with its funds.
Athletics is another area India has neglected. I want to see ten young Milkha Singhs. Hockey remains close to Indian hearts even though we keep losing. Unfortunately, because of the 20 or 25 years that we've been out of the game, the West has pushed astroturf on us. England, Belgium and Holland can afford, even need astroturf, as it rains so much there. But such turf in the 46 degree centigrade heat of Lahore, Amritsar and Delhi is zulm (torture). It would need the all the water of the Ganga to nurture it. I call it sports imperialism. There is no other word for it.
My other big project is to review the financial infrastructure, not just for sports but also for sportsmen, especially those who are old and indigent and have no other source of income. I got a letter from a sportswoman in Maharashtra. She represented the state but was given pension for just two years. What is she supposed to do after that? They might as well have sent her a cyanide pill so that she could swallow it and die.
Milkha Singh, for instance, had a rival about whom little is known. Makhan Singh was poetry in motion. Milkha beat him at the trials and went on to represent India. Makhan was equally good but he disappeared after that. I heard that he died in utter penury. There was Sohan Singh, an 800-metre runner. There was Parduman Singh, the first Indian to have won discus and short-putt at the 1st Asian Games. India doesn't know what became of these sportsmen. I am going to change all that, make life a little better for sportsmen.
