No relief in sight with mounting problems of food, transport

After a glitzy start, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organisers now face a new challenge - that of retaining the volunteers deputed at various Games venues, for the next eight days. Plagued by persistent problems related to food and transport, volunteers are steadily withdrawing from their duties at the Games. Complaints of missing volunteers have been pouring in at the airport and important centres.


Line-up: File photo of prospective volunteers waiting at the Organising
Committee office. The numbers have steadily gone down thereafter.

The volunteers have displayed less than expected zest for the Games due to what is seen as a combination of reasons ranging from random allocation of responsibilities, relatively unglamorous assignments and poor training and motivation.

Ashish Manchanda, one of the volunteers who left after working for the first two days said, "We were made to work for 14 hours in a day and also not being provided what we were promised earlier. We were treated like dogs. Though we were posted as media co-ordinators at the venue, we were asked to do all the works."

"Moreover there was no proper arrangements for food, pick and drop facility. The foods which came to us were often stale as well as insufficient. We kept complaining to the seniors but they kept ignoring. At the night we had to walk kilometres to get a bus or auto. I even started feeling unwell due to so much of harassment. SO finally I decided to leave and stay back at home," said, Manchanda who was deputed at Talkatora Indoor Stadium, venue for boxing events.

Earlier half the volunteers went missing with kit which cost Rs 12,000 to the Organising Committee (OC). "Some of the work is quite tough and requires good skills. Though we were trained we didn't have expertise to carry it out. But we were forced to do them. Moreover I was finding it hard to take out time for my studies. So finally I had to quit," said Riya posted at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.

When MiD DAY contacted CWG officials none of them were ready to comment on the issue. However on the condition of anonymity, an official from the Organising Committee confirmed mass desertions, saying: "Many of the volunteers are leaving midway but we have enough back up. So there is nothing to worry."
Similarly there has been a paucity of drivers over the past few days, with delegates and officials complaining about being left waiting for hours to get transport.

Officials say a host of other problems - long work hours, inadequate accommodation, refusal of the Delhi police to allow drivers to bring food with them etc - contributed to more than 300 drivers leaving the OC in the lurch.