CWG: OC gave away Rs 74 cr worth of free tickets

NEW DELHI: The ''sold out'' signs and empty stands at many Commonwealth Games venues are an abiding mystery of the Delhi edition. But the mist is now lifting with investigations revealing that the Organising Committee distributed a staggering Rs 74 crore worth of complimentary tickets.

Post-CWG probes have begun to uncover the mismanagement that led to not only the paying public being deprived of what was supposed to be Delhi's grand show but which also resulted in a substantial revenue loss. As the OC's budget was sanctioned by the Centre, the loss is the Centre's.

The loss computed by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) teams camped in the OC office since the Games got over shows that complimentaries alone came close to equalling the revised ticketing target of Rs 80 crore set for the event. If added to the actual sales of close to Rs 40 crore, the OC could have made as much as Rs 114 crore.

The OC's culpability is further reinforced by investigators finding that the number of unsold tickets was around three lakh. This, while complimentaries were indiscriminately printed, distributed and, in some cases, not even used. The high value of these tickets in the Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 slabs have also added to losses incurred by the OC.

The complimentaries, sources said, were sought to be used by Kalmadi and Co to extend favours to influential individuals like ruling party and Opposition MPs as well as organizations. But they still seem to have bungled as thousands of tickets went waste.
The auditor has, after considerable perseverance as the OC refused to make public the number and value of complimentaries, monetized all obligatory tickets including those meant for VIP categories. While it could have been argued that some beneficiaries like MPs should be exempted, several members of Parliament had in fact complained about not receiving tickets.

The distribution of complimentaries was tightly controlled by OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi and his close aides who ignored specific internal advice that a large number of ''free tickets'' were adversely affecting the Games.