Reputation Management Online

The  Commonwealth Games which was touted to be India’s show of new power and splendour is soon becoming another show of the deep corruption that the country is pickled in. From the bureaucracy that needs to be paid in the order of their status to nepotism, India is unable to come out of  these ‘tags’ while hosting international sporting events.

To the nouveau Indian wanting to see development and the doing away of corruption and introduction of transparency, the fact that eight RTI (Right To Information) activists were killed in seven months shows there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

While a large number of people question why the country made the bid to host the CWG in the first place, others hoped the capital city will be spruced up to international standards. Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International airport is probably the only saving grace in the corruption hit games now.

From exorbitant prices from treadmills to toilet paper, Suresh Kalmadi and honchos seem to have milked crores of rupees at every possible point. The money trails all lead to more sleaze and nepotism.

For sports-lovers the anguish is in how all this money could have actually given better protein rich food to the Rugby team or better facilities to sportsmen and women in the country.

For now The Commonwealth Games is fast turning into India’s shame and the 8% growth the country is showing seems to be all hollow. Sports in the country is really only about cricket and the highly successful IPL too had its share of sleaze.

Most people would tend to agree with former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, when he shocked people a few weeks ago with this statement…

“I am very happy with the rains, firstly because it will ensure a good agriculture for the country and secondly because it will ensure that the Commonwealth Games are spoilt”

A day ago Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia came out with a more scathing remark…

“It’s not a good idea to host the Games. What are the parameters for hosting a good Games? Fancy roads, which we have (in Delhi). Fancy airport, which we have. But what we don’t have is proper infrastructure. The government is not aware of the real picture of our infrastructure”

India national reputation continues to be of corruption, sleaze and lack of transparency, but of late, a lot of it is being exposed through a watchful media and that is a huge change for the country.