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ShareNew Delhi: Returning to the Parliament after a gap of almost four months to face the heat on delays in the mega-budget Commonwealth projects, sports minister MS Gill informed all that he was not in favour of bidding for the Olympics even if India stages the CWG quite successfully.
Replying to a query made by Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan that India should bid for Olympics, Gill said that he was not sure if India should bid for Olympic Games.
"Look at the poverty in this country and take a look at the size of our country. China has spent $50 billion for Olympics. If you are ready to spend that kind of money, there is a certain class of people, who like and enjoy it because it is a good entertainment for them," Gill said.
The government on Wednesday also assured the members that all the projects would be completed on time and delivery of the stadiums would start from December, as per promise. During the monsoon session of the parliament, the government for the first time informed the Rajya Sabha that there was a delay in approximately all the projects and most of the projects were not even 60% completed.
"All the stadiums would be completed on time and we will meet the deadlines as it was promised. The ministry has invested a substantial amount for upgradation of all the venues for the games. These would be state-of-the-art venues and visitors and players would have good memories of the games," said MS Gill, the youth and sports minister.
Gill further said that the ministry had sanctioned around Rs4,100 crore for the 12 venues where 17 different events would be played during the games. "We are working at a rapid pace and targets would be met."
The minister further told the house that there were initial delays at Dr SPM Swimming Complex, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range and the Cycling Velodrome due to design problems but it was later taken care off. "The government had formed the Group of Ministers for the Games and review meetings are taking place every week," he added.
