Sharad Yadav, opposition leader, has protested against India hosting the Commonwealth Games:
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Yadav said participation in the Games is wasteful expenditure and a country like India can ill-afford to spend such a huge amount of money for a few medals. "I understand that the Indian Olympic Committee, headed by Suresh Kalmadi, spent Rs 23 crore on an eleven-minute song and drama sequence, in which several film actors took part, at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.What is the big deal in hosting games like the Commonwealth Games in India? What do we gain, barring a few medals and some IOA officials having a good time? I believe that the huge amount of money that would be spent on hosting the Games could have been used for giving grants to Delhi University and other academic institutions of excellence. We could have created more IITs and IIMs with that fund."
So essentially, Yadav raises two points:
1) Public money should not be wasted.
2) Public money should be used in activities for development of the nation.
Public money should indeed not be wasted. Amit Varma spoke on the Bollywood stars being funded by public money a few days ago:
What gets my (constantly aggrieved) goat is that the Rs 29 crore comes from the taxes that I pay, and is also drawn from indirect taxes paid by millions of people too poor to even buy the ticket for a Saif Ali Khan film. This is a shocking and unnecessary use of public money.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, for example, already has a lot of money so would not require using public money for bidding for a World Cup, whenever it would. The Indian Olympic Association does not have this cushion. So to undertake any venture at a large scale, it would need to use public money.
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Article comments
1 - manja
Dude, you should check your facts before commenting on it. Its not sharad pawar (the union minister), its sharad yadav (a opposition party leader). Shame on you for misleading ppl.
2 - Pratyush
Manja, Thank you for pointing the error. I could have sworn it read Pawar yesterday! The larger point I was making does stand though.
3 - manja
Hey Pratyush, sorry abt the "shame" part (It wasn't meant to be a personal attack). I know the story is true abt Mr. Sharad Yadav (an obscure politician from Bihar), but its always a fact that the opposition in India opposes every(majority atleast) policy of the govt just for the sake of opposing. So, whether a union minister makes such an allegation or the opposition leader makes it really makes a HUGE difference.
4 - Yash
somethings are pricless mr. sharad yadav!
5 - eshita kapoor
i agree with you that india has not got the capability of hosting the commonwealth games .As seen in Delhi (according to my observation) this year our government is taking action but what about the passed years .
have they waken up now?And i dont think so that if this is going to happen ,our country will progress,but still i can say that somethings are priceless.(as yash said)
6 - Aussie
India shouldn't host the Commonwealth Games?
Why the bloody hell not? At a time when India is strutting its stuff on the global stage, this is a perfect opportunity to showcase what modern India is all about.
If you don't want 'em, send down here to Australia instead.