CWG volunteers complain of favouritism
Although they had a nice time and also got good exposure, a few volunteers of the Commonwealth Games 2010 could not help griping about some of their fellow volunteers managing to get “plum” deployments inside the stadia, while they were left to sweat it out outside. A few also complained about not getting their stipends regularly.
Mayur (27), standing guard at one of the entry gates of Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, said, “The selection of volunteers was done in a biased manner. Those who were close to the people in the organising committee staff managed to get deployments where all the action is going on, while people like us have been asked to carry out tasks outside.”
Fahad Khan, a Kirori Mal College student, said that so far he has not had any problems with the stipend but the same could not be said about his other friends. “There is no coordination. My batchmates keep complaining about lack of coordination,” he said. He added that it would have been much better if all the work was completed on time as it would have given the organisers time to sort out issues with volunteers.
A few volunteers continued to complain about bad food that they have been getting through the event. “Even when we were deployed in places like Ashok Hotel, we got bad food. This is something that will always rankle in our minds. It is not good to leave the work force high and dry when they are giving their best,” said Suhail, another volunteer.
The problems apart, many volunteers said that they felt elated being part of the entire experience. “This kind of opportunity does not come always. I don’t think we are going to have another such event in the next 10 or 20 years. I am glad I went for it,” said Shradha, helping out spectators outside the stadium.
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