Be Heard: Delhi should not host Games

The recent spat between the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games CEO and the Indian organising committee should not come as a total surprise to any of us. It raises a very important issue: Should India in fact be hosting such an event? The response should be a clear ‘no'.

It is common knowledge that the preparation for the event is not up to the mark or the satisfaction of the international community. Only recently did Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh address the issue and speak of the preparation — or the lack of it.

The fact of the matter is that the 19th Commonwealth Games at New Delhi will cost India around $1.6 billion (Dh5.87 billion), which is the most expensive in the history of the event.

It also goes against the austerity drive taken by the current government. It is a complete waste of taxpayers' money, that too for a 10-day event.

Misplaced pride

The popular argument put forward to support the idea of hosting the games is that it is a source of pride for the host country. We need to be very careful while using expressions such as ‘pride' and also take into consideration the socio-demographic situation of the country.

The 2009 United Nations Human Development Index puts India at 134 out of 182 countries. Also, recent reports have claimed that India has the largest number of malnourished people. According to World Bank reports, around 42 per cent of the population lives below the international poverty line.

India may have the second highest number of billionaires in the Top 10 Forbes list, but it also has the largest number of hungry people on earth.

Sad facts

These are facts which no self-respecting Indian would appreciate. It would also be interesting to see how many of these men, women and children would feel ‘proud' when the event is complete and all the money wasted.

Don't get me wrong, we should all strive to excel in all walks of life, including sports. However, India has limited resources and hence needs to make optimum use of them.

Finally, Indians have a choice to make: to improve the future of their children or spend billions of dollars to host an event that has already been termed a ‘10-Day Circus'.

-The reader is a Dubai-based manager and Gulf News reader