The Hindu : Front Page : I am still the boss, says Kalmadi

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Friday, Aug 20, 2010
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I am still the boss, says Kalmadi

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Thursday rejected suggestions that the government has clipped his wings by appointing a committee of bureaucrats and insisted that he was still the boss and the panel was instituted on his request.

Reacting sharply to suggestions that the committee's appointment virtually stripped him of his authority, he told PTI, “There have been news reports that 10 government officers have come but they have been appointed at our request. The Organising Committee requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the final stage of the Games has come and we need government officers.”

Mr. Kalmadi said:

“They have come to coordinate, they are going to support us. Every time you say Kalmadi's wings are being clipped. Let me tell you I am a former pilot.

“To put the finishing touches to the arrangement, we need the support of the government. At this stage, it is very crucial that we get all the work done in time and therefore we need senior officers from the government so that the coordination work is done quickly. This arrangement will only help us to complete the task.”

Mr. Kalmadi, however, acknowledged that the Games preparations remained a work in progress with just 45 days to go. — PTI

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