Glaring irregularities, scant regard for law

CAG auditors found such glaring irregularities with the chief protagonist of the CWG saga, the Organising Committee (OC) headed by Suresh Kalmadi and company, that calling it the “disorganising committee” would not be far off the mark.

CAG auditors found such glaring irregularities with the chief protagonist of the CWG saga, the Organising Committee (OC) headed by Suresh Kalmadi and company, that calling it the “disorganising committee” would not be far off the mark. Case studies (pdf)

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The report clearly shows how Kalmadi’s ‘empire’ functioned and brought sporting ignominy to India. The discrepancies give the impression that OC top bosses had scant regard for laws and established procedures.

Sample this: CWG auditors, while probing OC’s workings, could not find proper documents of a large number of works and processes. In many cases, the documents and records were too inadequate to escape suspicion.

“The internal control environment and decision making structures within the OC were highly inadequate. The state of documentation was so inadequate that we are unable to derive assurance (vis-à-vis)… the authenticity of records,” the CAG says. The systemic rot ensured that the CAG could not even ascertain the exact number of contracts and works.

The processing of certain sensitive contracts/cases was entrusted in an arbitrary and ad hoc manner to certain officials closely associated with Kalmadi and Lalit Bhanot (OC Secretary General). Such officials had no role/ linkages with the concerned Functional Area to which these activities pertained. “Many of these contracts/ cases also involved impropriety, irregularity and lack of transparency…,” it says.

By delaying of contracts and even floating of tenders, the OC also cited last-minute urgency and clubbed many high-value contracts. “The bunching of contracts towards 2010 and purported urgency… compromised transparency, economy and compliance with stipulated procedures and favoured selected vendors,” the CAG said.

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