New Delhi: In a nutshell, following are the details of the interim report by the CAG on the CWG irregularities.
1. Irregular awarding of contract for QBR ( Queen’s Baton Relay) :-Three bidders made the presentation in Oct 2007 for providing consultancy in delivering the QBR
- Pricewaterhouse Coopers : Rs. 1.91 crore
- Brilliant Entertainment Networks : Rs. 1.85 crore
- Maxxam International: Rs. 8.01 crore
CAG says: The contract was awarded to Maxxam who were the highest bidder. The OC says this is because they have vast experience & a professional staff. But that is irregular since the financial bids were opened only after considering the technical bids where all three firms were found at par by the OC. Giving contract to Maxxam caused an avoidable expenditure of Rs. 6.16 crore
2. A loss of revenue amounting to Rs. 24.60 crore:-Bids invited for international broadcasting rights consultancy. Two companies responded, SMAM and Fast Track Events, London. SMAM proposed flat rate of commission of 12.5% while Fast Track’s rate was 15%. In principal, it was agreed to hire Fast Track as consultant only on the basis of suggestions made by President of CGF (Fennell), CEO of CGF (Hooper), Chairman of OC (Kalmadi). No detailed technical evaluation of bidders was carried out.
Audit shows : The difference in rate of commission resulted in a loss of Rs. 5,20 crore and there was also a projected revenue loss of Rs. 19 crore due to deficiencies in services of the consultant.
3. Loss of interest amounting to Rs. 65.89 lakh:- The OC signed agreements with Network Ten Australia and TV New Zealand to give media rights in Australia and New Zealand to those two companies respectively. The agreement was signed in January 2008 and the two companies were meant to pay 10% of the Rights Fee on the signing day (amounting to a total of Rs. 15.94 crore). But the OC didn’t raise the invoices till about 5 months later and therefore suffered a loss of interest amounting to Rs. 65.81 lakh
4. Deficient & ineffective financial & administrative guidelines:- OC’s financial & administrative guidelines are deficient on many counts which may result in large financial inaccuracy and poor internal control
5. Irregular appointment of advisors:- With reference to the previous point about ineffective administrative guidelines, there is no set criteria for appointment of advisors in terms of norms, qualifications or remuneration. To that end, audit scrutiny shows that Chairman OC appointed 15 Advisors/Personal Advisors/Chief Advisors in a two year span at salaries ranging from Rs. 35000 to Rs. 85000. OC has not replied to audit memo yet
6. Irregular payment towards residential accommodation:- M Jeyachandran is one of the officers named as getting a House Rent Allowance higher than their entitlement. He was entitled to Rs. 22000, but was actually getting Rs. 40,000.
7. Hiring of vehicles :- No set guidelines for hire of vehicles & entitlement of officers. No log books maintained. Non-entitled officers being given vehicles. Wide variation in monthly hire charges. Vehicles hired not always being fully utilised. Rs. 59,82, 660 has been spent in FY 2007-2008 alone for hiring cars
8. Non-empanelment of hotels and no effort to ensure due economy in this expenditure
OC booked rooms in a variety of hotels ranging from Taj to Ashok without creating a panel of approved hotels or obtaining bulk discounts or scouting for competitive rates. In the audit period there was an expenditure of Rs. 14.51 lakh with no effort to save money or economise
9.Questions over money spent on the “1000 days to go” campaign
A total of Rs. 28.32 lakh was spent on this promotional activity with money going to JWT Gurgaon and Wizcraft. But the expenditure has been filed under other, unrelated heads such as Opening & Closing Ceremony and Publicity Expense. Why this camouflaging of figures?
Source: www.ndtv.com
The Media is doing a great service to the Indian society by bringing such instances of corruption to the public domain. What is happening is that public are satisfied with the freebees given & vote in favour of a party; they are not aware that crores & crores are disappearing & personal wealth of the policticians are increasing. COngrats to the media. Please bring out more such facts.
The pathetic scenario is normalcy in expenditure audit The Public Accounts Committee’s discussion on Action taken Report on CAG’s findings should be made transparent Awareness on this is to be created among the Press people. since CAG the acronym itself was unknown till recently Therefore Hope for the best
WHY THE COPY OF THIS REPORT SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO ALL THE LEADING NEWS PRESS TO PRINT IN ALL THE NEWS PAPERS
The mistake that was committed is the expenditure should not have been audited. We should have allowed Mr. Suresh Kalmadi to do HIS job, and convert COMMON WEALTH into their INDIVIDUAL WEALTH. There are always HIGH COMMAND to shield him. I am really confused why media like TIMES NOW are bothered about such silly issues since there are more serious issues like sparrows and crows are not flying properly, dogs are not barking etc. etc.