New Delhi, Aug. 14: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh took strong note of the “slippages” in preparations for the 19th Commonwealth Games, handing overriding powers in matters concerning the Games to a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary, Mr K.M. Chandrasekhar, after a meeting here on Saturday.
The Cabinet Secretary in turn will be answerable to the Group of Ministers headed by the urban development minister, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, cutting into the Games Organising Committee’s powers. On the day, Dr Singh was briefed by the sports ministry, the ministry of urban development, the Delhi government and the CWG OC on the progress of Games preparations in terms of work assigned to them.
“Dr Singh observed that there had been slippages in the time schedules of some of the construction works and deficiencies had also been observed in some of the works. He said that in the run-up to the Games it was important to gain public confidence by instilling order and carrying out effective supervision of the preparation works,” a PMO statement said.