OC yet to address demarches by Delhi police and Sports Ministry regarding unverified authorisation cards
OC yet to address demarches by Delhi police and Sports Ministry regarding unverified authorisation cards
Even though Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal have praised the security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games, there were several lacunae which were kept off public scrutiny.
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Get The Load Of This:u00a0These cards allowed unrestricted entry to the
Games Village and venues. file pic
Classified documents, copies of which are in the possession of MiD DAY, reveal a massive scam in the issuance of accreditation cards that would have seriously compromised the overall security for the mega sporting event that eventually concluded without any untoward incident.
The Issue
The Organising Committee had issued 1,42,000 accreditation cards to people across categories including security staff, doctors, media and other officials. However, for 62,000 cards, no police verifications were done. It would be pertinent to note here that these cards allowed unrestricted entry to the Games venues and village.
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However, the Organising Committee (OC) was put on notice by the Delhi Police and the Sports Ministry regarding the issue. Both asked for complete details regarding the cards but the OC is yet to respond to their letters.
Notice Period
In an e-mail addressed to senior OC officials, including its chairman Suresh Kalmadi, and Union sports secretary, Joint Commissioner of Police (CWG) JK Sharma had asked RK Sacheti, Joint Director General (Coordination and Accreditation) about the unverified accreditation cards as well as those people who had been issued the cards but were not reporting on duty.
The mail was sent on September 28, 2010.Taking cognizance of the e-mail, Sports Secretary Sindhushree Khullar wrote to OC chief Kalmadi.
"As the matter is sensitive and urgent, I request that all Functional Areas (stakeholders) are directed to take a roll call of the cards that have been issued to personnel under them and report the matter to under intimation to me. An urgent response is requested," she wrote in the letter, a copy of which is with MiD DAY.
Indifferent OC
However, despite many reminders, the OC is yet to reply even after four days of the conclusion of the Games. Ironically, the cabinet secretary had chaired the coordination meetings in which the issue was discussed.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Many security personnel, including those from Delhi police and paramilitary personnel, healthcare staff and media persons were refused accreditation cards citing various reasons. An OC official, requesting anonymity, confirmed to MiD DAY that thousands of applications that were supposed to be sent for police verification are still lying at the OC headquarters.
| Catch 22 |
| Team Pakistan was a great concern for the Indian organisers. As India provides city-based visas to Pakistanis, a couple of days before the Games, the Home Ministry had issued instructions to treat their OC accreditation as multiple city visas. They were allowed entry to Karni Singh shooting range, Faridabad in Haryana. Despite that Pakistanis had to face problems while travelling outside Delhi. According to sources, seven Pakistani athletes were not allowed to travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. |
| When PC Walked |
| Strictly following the rule book, Home Minister P Chidambaram walked about 500 meters to reach Siri Fort Complex, a venue for Commonwealth Games, after Delhi Police disallowed his personal security officer and car driver to accompany him for not carrying accreditation cards. |
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