By now, clear indications are that the Commonwealth Games are going to turn into a big disaster. As a nation, it puts each one of us into a shame that would take years to subside. One estimate indicated that approximately 70,000 crore rupees had already been spent in preparations. I was shocked that by spending almost the wealth of the wealthiest Indians, this is all our Governement could come up with. I present a hypothetical case (cannot be a reality in India!!), but serious take, of what could have been done with this much amount of money!
1) 96 new IITs could be built. (Per a recent estimate, 8 new IITs were to be built at the cost of 60.80 billion rupees = 6080 crores!! ) Do your math now!
2) 318 new international terminals could have been built across airports like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkatta, Bangalore etc. Delhi's international terminal no. 3 was built at a cost of 220 crore rupees. Guess the capacity of this one? 78 gates, 168 check-in counters, 97 automated walkways, 95 immigration counters, an open car park for 4,300 cars and 20,000 square meters of retail space.
3) Renewable energy seems to be the future of any economy; it is not difficult but impossible for any country to rely only on the oil & coal supplies for industrial and domestic needs. With the amount spent on CWG, we could have built 7 renewable power companies! (Suzlon, taken as an example, has a market cap of approximately 9800 crores)!! This would have effectively addressed the "electricity" sharing problems among different states!
4) Government could have boosted the oil subsidy and this would have helped the common man - through reduced fuel and LPG prices! A major oil company is expected to lose around 30000 crores due to the subsidies. We could have well covered these losses and provided additional subsidies to help the aam aadmi.
5) Metro rail in all the metros!! Two phases of Delhi metro were completed at an approximate cost of 15000 crore rupees. If the governement had not bid for a disaster, we would have had metros in each of these cities - Kolkatta, Mumbai and Chennai! How does it feel to know that Delhi metro is operating on profits (after tax) of 90 crores!
6) Improve basic educational facilities - All of us are welll aware of the deficiencies in the Indian education system. Government schools have no teachers and a majority of the private schools loot people. Keeping a note that the current national allocation for education is just 31000 (approx) crores, the money spent on CWG would have done wonders to improve the literacy rate in the rural areas!!
7) 350 satellites in space!! Considering that the Cartosat 2B satellite launched in 2010 approximately cost 200 crores, India could have put 350 such satellites for innumerable technological advancements!!
Though I am not ridiculing the efforts already made and being made to make the CWG a success, the point is simple - This was "THE" opportunity for India to come on the world's sport center stage, but due to the improper planning & execution, we let ourselves and the entire CWG nations down. I read an article somewhere that suggested - the "hub of outsourcing" should have "outsourced" games to China! What a shame?!
The opposition parties who were supposed to question the happenings in the country also remained dumb for a long time. In a bid to divert attention even A.R.Rahman was drawn into the mess, not that I support the price tag of 5 crores (alleged)! It is time the people woke up and elected only capable politicians to the Parliament house!
Courtesy:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/commonwealth-games/top-stories/Will-the-Commonwealth-Games-be-held-at-all/articleshow/6449408.cms
http://www.2point6billion.com/news/2010/07/02/delhis-new-world-class-terminal-set-to-impress-6244.html
