On the road to Liberty

The excitement of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games is building up in Delhi. The spot light is not on sporting performance, but the construction delays, cost overruns, and allegations of corruption. These are symptoms which have affected many other projects. I believe, the legacy of these games could be that all such projects would be put under similar scrutiny. Below there is a table giving the official break up of expenditure on account of the games, and related development project. A version of this article was published in the Wall Street Journal Online, on 10 Aug 2010, titled " India's Political Games ". Indian politicians played games in Parliament, this week, as they debated the chaos surrounding the Commonwealth Games set to open in Delhi, on October 3. While dozens of members of Parliament from many political parties had their say, the chairman of the CWG organizing committee, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, who is also a MP from the ruling Congress party, chose not to sp...

The Commonwealth Games is just a few months away and the transportation system in Delhi is in a big mess-whether it is the metro rail system or the public-sector bus system. Planners blame these problems on population growth and unlicensed private transportation. The blame , however, should be placed on the planners themselves. Restricting the entry of vehicles is not the solution.Entry barries should be eliminated and traffic police should be privatized. My article titled "Fixing Delhi's Demonic Traffic" was published in The Wall Street Journal on July 1st 2010. The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are just four months away, and residents of India's capital city are bracing for more traffic nightmares as players and guests from over 40 countries pour into town. The city already contends with crumbling public transportation and mind-numbing traffic jams. National and state governments have opened their wallets to meet the exponentially growing costs, arguing the spend...