Olympic official calls for revamp of Delhi Games committee

Labourers work at the National Stadium, one of the venues for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games August 24, 2009.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary-general Randhir Singh has called for a revamp of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games' organising committee after widespread concerns over preparations for the event.

Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell has sought a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his help in the buildup to the Games scheduled from Oct. 3-14 next year.

"We now have to retrieve the games," Singh told The Indian Express on Tuesday. "The letter from Fennell shows that the organisation of the games is a major concern.

"It shows that he is very worried, and we need to make some immediate organisational changes to ensure we're upto the task."

Singh said the many organising sub-committees needed to be run professionally.

"There are 23 committees looking into the various organisational aspects of the games but the chairmen of these committees hardly ever meet," he said.

"Second, we need to give these committees more powers so that they don't have to run to the chairman of the organising committee for every small thing.

"At the moment, these committees only have an advisory role but they must have the power to take decisions."

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