Games: Is Silence A Private-Public Joint Venture?

By M H Ahssan

The king of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, despite the barely 30 springs he has passed by, is a wise man. He summoned the media last August and said that he dreaded silence. “When everything is silent, when no one is complaining, when things seem to be too good, I am sure something is wrong below the surface.”

Fortunately, I was part of Bhutan media when he said this and gained from his insight. Now the eerie silence around everything to do with the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 is making me feel uneasy.

The courts ruled that sports bodies must be subject to Right to Information, so one thought that the organising committee would be decent enough to summon the media from time to time and brief them – rightly or wrongly – about the goings on. But that is a joke!

The OC not just never calls the media, but remains shut behind closed doors when queries are sent.

Example: The feedback from the hospitality industry captains seemed worrying towards the middle of last month, as no one had done any special preparation, no one knew how many guests to expect, and the versions of the Delhi state government, Incredible India and the Assocham differed wildly.

So we decided to get the picture from the OC side and called Moti Irani. She gave us time the following day, “anytime after 2.00 pm,” which seemed like a certain thing.

We reached but were bounced off to – guess – Dr Lalit Bhanot’s office. Once there, our presence started a terrific chaos: has he given us time? Since he has not, so why are we here? No one believed that we were sent by Irani’s office. Finally, they said that she or any other, would speak only if Dr Bhanot gave permission.

So would we be so good as to send a mail requesting this interview? They would get back us to us within half an hour, latest by tomorrow morning, said Dr Bhanot’s secretary.

Now everyday at around four in the afternoon, I open the mail box… perhaps he has sent the mail, even though it is more than a month?

But hang on… this is not mere OC baiting. No one, absolutely no one is speaking.

There is a terrible confusion over the hi-tech ambulances the OC needs, and tenders were to be issued soon. I called Dr Kiran Walia every day for three weeks. “Ma’am is busy, she will call you this evening.” Standard!

Rina Ray, Sujit Banerjee, you name it and the officials are just not there to field any questions.

But is there anyone in the private sector ready to speak?

In the office daily we try and strike up ‘brilliant story ideas,’ something the boss would drool on.

Like what are the preparations for health tourism from the side of the big hospitals? “Send us a questionnaire by Email please and we shall send the responses.” No Max, no Apollo, No Spa Ananda… so what if Assocham projected a Rs 8 billion market centred just around the Games?

Brilliant story idea No 1 gone!

Brilliant story idea No 2: The big travel agencies…. They must be gearing up with discounts and special packages!

We sent the mails two weeks ago, Thomas Cook, Cox& Kings, Sita World Travels… and brilliant story No 2 is also gone. Only one senior travel guy let escape a grunt: “what about packages… where will our guests stay during the Games?

The silence surrounding the secure communication system was inexplicable: TCS had formally complained against rival supplier consortium, but when we asked them, they said it is history for them.

The catering contract was retendered, the original winner of the tender – a huge global consortium – lost out to the Railways, and there was not a whimper of protest. All quiet on the gastronomy front!

The bed & breakfast system had been foisted as a face saving from the humiliation that most private hotels had refused to construct the starry accommodations. Ask them and they do not speak, excepting that they find it impossible to stick to the government’s norm of not giving any meal excepting breakfast, even if the guests are famished.

If OC is the public sector, and industry the private one, then this silence seems a public-private partnership, for sure.

The question is, come October, will we emerge in glory from behind these layers of curtains, or will India’s name be muck?