Delhi govt rejects Shunglu charges point-by-point

Delhi govt rejects Shunglu charges point-by-point

The Delhi Government in its final report rejected all allegations made by the Shunglu Committee of bunglings in the Commonwealth Games projects.

Directed by the Home Ministry to make its submission within stipulated time on the allegations by the Shunglu committee, Delhi Cabinet on Wednesday approved its final response, rejecting point-by-point the charges of the PM-appointed panel.

The over 1,000 page report, prepared by a three-member committee of top officials, gives paragraph-wise response of the observation made by the Shunglu panel while trashing all its findings, arguing that they were based on "presumptions" and "assumptions".

"The Cabinet has approved the report prepared by the three-member committee. We are giving paragraph-wise response to the Shunglu Committee's findings. It will be sent to the Home Ministry in the next two-three days," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The Home Ministry late last month had sent the report of the Shunglu Committee to Delhi Government, asking it to file a detailed response to the findings within a month.

Asked about allegations made against her by the panel, she refused to give a direct reply but said, "It is a reply by the government and I belong to government."

Officials said the Government has rejected the whole report as it is based on "presumptions" and "assumptions" without verification of the facts.

Dikshit said the response from MCD and NDMC against whom the Shunglu panel had also levelled allegations will be sent along with the government's response to the Home Ministry.

"We have received responses from MCD and NDMC and we will forward their responses also along with ours," Dikshit said.

Besides holding various agencies, including the PWD, responsible for irregularities, the Shunglu Committee had blamed Dikshit for alleged bungling in various Games projects.

The city government, which already rejected the findings of the panel as a "product of paranoia", had sent a brief report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, trashing the report.

In the brief report, the government had rejected almost all the findings of the panel and instead accused it of deliberately choosing to adopt a logic of "convenience" in finding corruption in every policy and every tender of the government.

Although the brief report was more of a rhetoric, the final report contains all details about the CWG projects including reasons for cost escalations, delays and other issues raised by the Shunglu panel, sources said.

The Shunglu Committee has submitted six reports on broadcasting, Games Village, city infrastructure, Games venues, Organising Committee and Main Report -- Organisation and Conduct of CWG 2010.

The report on city infrastructure was referred to the Home Ministry by the PMO for appropriate action on the queries raised by the Shunglu panel in works done by the city government-controlled departments.

The administration of Delhi, being an Union Territory, comes under the control of the Home Ministry.