Now that the Independence day celebrations are over,it's time to throw away those rose-tinted glasses and do some serious reality check.The news that is religiously making it to the headlines daily for the last two weeks is about Commonwealth Games 2010 (CWG). Sadly, it has hit the screens for all wrong reasons.i.e. the delays and the massive corruption involved in CWG preparations! Now,corruption is not a new word for us Indians.But this time, it's murkier, uglier than ever for two reasons.One, the sheer amount of money involved and second, this time India's reputation at an international level is at stake.Day after day,reports on the horrendous business that has been going on in the name CWG are shaking the nation.The facts and figures that have come out are eye popping .mind numbing. brain squirming.Call it whatever you want.It is that bad! We have perhaps broken our own record at the shamelessness of this country's political leaders and bureaucrats.A few facts about this dirty business,
1) Treadmills HIRED at Rs. 9 lakh/month....( didn't you know? they make your feet run automatically. Just push the button and go to sleep,your legs will do the running. )
2) Air conditioners HIRED at Rs. 2 lakh/month... ( who signed this contract...show me your feet ! )
3) Toilet paper bought at Rs. 3757 .. ( samza karo yaar. Bade log, badi baatein! )
4) Umbrellas on HIRE at Rs. 6000 per piece..( This is a gem! I would rather get wet and catch flu than have that cursed umbrella. )
5) Chairs HIRED at a price that would buy an entire chair making industry.
6) Refrigerator HIRED for Rs. 45000 ... ( How cold is that! :O Plain brutal. )
7) World class construction that leaks on the day of inauguration.
8) Major contracts given off to companies with tainted reputation.
9) Obscene amounts spent on buying the saplings which never got planted .Now, they stand waiting under the hot sun.Wonder which 'green' is burning here.Plants or our money? Sadly, both!
And the above list is just the tip of the ice-berg.Massive amounts of , 'no holds barred' corruption, which is totally beyond my comprehension, has happened in road widening,building new stadiums n upgrading old ones and god knows what not.It's all so disgusting.Now,I am a person who only rarely watches news on TV.Basically because they are mostly rigged and almost always depressing.But on one fine day, I thought may be,as a responsible citizen, I should know what's happening in my country.So, I switch on the TV and these are the updates I get.
There are only a few things in the world that make you so badly sick that your mind refuses to believe them just to avoid the mental trauma. This shameless corruption definitely falls under that category.It is so bad,so outrageous, it makes my head spin. Brazen lies, fabricated reports and sheer wastage of honest taxpayer's money...words fall short while describing this shabby business. All politicians and 'babu log' who are involved in this, have literally murdered India's reputation in front of the whole world.And that hurts really bad !
Now,the only way left to save our grace is that at least the games should be conducted properly.I am praying that no roof should cave in when the games are in progress and that no stage should collapse when the winners are being honored ( but if a corrupt politician is standing on it,please let it collapse and eat that poison rat ! ).It's a helpless situation and I can only hope that after the games are over and the players have gone back to their respective countries,proper machinery will be put in place to identify the culprits and noose around them will be tightened enough, so that those rodents won't slip out through the narrow cracks in our judicial system and thus,such incidents will not happen in the future.But then, I can only hope.
On a lighter note,looking at this whole thing,I sometimes wonder if the organizers of CWG thought that the funds allocated for the games were "their common wealth" that was supposed to be spent on themselves and not those stupid games..
Jai Hind!
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