Manmohan Singh cleared Suresh Kalmadi as chief of CWG committee: Official documents

NEW DELHI: The appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as chairman of the 2010 Commonwealth Games organising committee which ran into controversy over corruption allegations and mismanagement was done with the approval and direction of former PM Manmohan Singh, official documents revealed.

An office memorandum which set out the agenda of a group of ministers meeting scheduled for January 1, 2004, referred to the Prime Minister's Office's note which gave the green signal for the former Congress MP's appointment as chairman of the CWG organising committee and said the committee would "deal with the government of India".

This was at variance with the original bid document for the Games that said the chair of the organising committee would be a government appointee. A later revision said the OC would be headed by a chairperson and the Manmohan Singh PMO asked the GoM to consider Kalmadi's appointment.

The official record of the PMO said the "institutional arrangements" for the conduct of the CWG based on the views of GoM were cleared by Singh and noted in a document dated December 6, 2004. "An organising committee and executive board responsible for the conduct of the Games and formulation of sub-committees to be chaired by Suresh Kalmadi, president of IOA," the record said.

PMO documents relating to the CWG were examined by the Public Accounts Committee last week with members seeking further clarifications on the exact nature of Kalmadi's appointment which was seen to have reduced the role of the sports ministry to a bystander.

The CWG became mired in allegations of graft and mismanagement with Kalmadi and several officials facing charges in court.