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Sports Minister M S Gill assured the Rajya Sabha that all preparations for the CWG would be completed well in time.

Responding to a calling attention motion on next year's Commonwealth Games Gill ensured the House that the country would host the multi-discipline successfully.

The motion regarding the preparation for the Games scheduled in Delhi from October 3 to 14 was tabled by Kalraj Mishra, Mahendra Mohan and O T Lepcha.

"In the overall scheme for the preparation for the Commonwealth Games, the sports infrastructure is to be developed by government agencies, and funded directly by the Government," Gill told the House in is response.

"The responsibility for the Conduct and Delivery of the Games is of the Organising Committee. For this purpose, the OC is funded upfront by the Government as a loan, to be recouped on the basis of revenue neutrality. The development, upgradation and improvement of the city infrastructure, are to be done by the Government of Delhi, with support of the Government of India," he added.

"The estimated cost of the Competition and Training venues is around Rs. 4,100 crores. Financial sanctions for all the stadia have been accorded and work is progressing at a rapid pace," he insisted.

However, Gill admitted that there were delays in construction work of some of the venues.
The work on three stadia namely Dr SPM Swimming Complex, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, and the Cycling Velodrome, had a delayed start due to some design issues. All possible measures are being taken, including increase in number of supervisory staff and labour, increase in working hours, deployment of additional machinery, close monitoring of procurement of special and critical items," Gill said.

"The stadia will be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in October, 2010," he assured.

Gill said the OC, which has been criticised for its handling of preparations by even the Commonwealth Games Federation, is responsible for ensuring a successful conduct of the event.

"The OC is responsible for the conduct and delivery of the Games, which includes all logistical and stay arrangements for about 8000 sportspersons. The OC is also responsible for the technical conduct of the sports, sponsorship, ticketing, merchandising, ceremonies etc. The Government has sanctioned a budget of Rs 1620 crores for the OC," he said.

Gill said all contentious issues between the CGF and the OC have been sorted.

"In September, 2009, the President, CGF, expressed some concerns related to the capacity of the OC, to deliver operationally," he said.

"On the occasion of the Launch of the Queen's Baton in London in October, 2009 these matters were discussed between the President, CGF and the Chairman, OC, in the presence of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, and they were resolved amicably to the satisfaction of both CGF and OC,"Gill said.

Gill said bureaucrats have been appointed with the OC to ensure smooth functioning of the body.

"In order to strengthen the internal management and financial administration of the OC, at the request of chairman, OC, a Retired Secretary to Government of India was posted to the OC as Chief Executive Officer in October, 2009.

Three other senior serving officers, including a Finance expert were also made available to the OC. All the officers have joined and are functioning," he said.

Gill said the training of the athletes was also going on as planned.

"To improve the performance of our athletes in the Commonwealth Games, for the first time, the government has approved in June, 2008 a Scheme at a cost of Rs 678 Crores for the comprehensive training and coaching of athletes. Rs 1064 core athletes of the 17 sports discipline have been selected and are undergoing intensive training and exposure.

"Finally I would like to assure the House that the Government of India and the Organising Committee are fully committed to complete all preparations for the Games in good time and to train our athletes for a good performance," he said.