Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Naidu reviews Games' arrangements

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD Dec. 14. Even while basking in the after-glow of the very successful launch of the 32nd National Games, the man everybody acknowledges as the moving spirit behind the mega sporting event took time to reflect and tie up some loose ends.

The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is taking personal interest in the Games, reviewed the arrangements with Cabinet colleagues, top officials and chairpersons of the different committees at a teleconference here on Saturday, before leaving for Visakhapatnam to watch the Games there.

Mr. Naidu, who is getting feedback on the performance of each committee from different sources, found there was bungling in the issue of passes and accreditation cards. A number of VIPs and elected representatives complained about shoddy treatment. Senior IAS officers were seen anxiously looking for vacant seats.

At the teleconference, Mr. Naidu apprised the committees of the feedback and where they stood in evaluation of their work. He congratulated them for the excellent work at Friday's opening ceremony. The reception and food committees earned top marks in the grading while the health committee trailed behind.

Sources said the Chief Minister was annoyed by the "poor quality'' of accreditation cards and other material entrusted to the Computer Maintenance Corporation (CMC), a Government agency. With similar reports coming in also from Visakhapatnam today, Mr. Naidu said it should be "blacklisted.'' "It is a total failure on their part,'' he reportedly observed.

The BJP, which was sore that the invitation for yesterday's ceremony did not carry the name of Union Minister, B. Dattatreya, referred to "many lapses,'' particularly in the issue and distribution of invitations and passes. There was no coordination among different agencies and security personnel often misbehaved with the invitees. The BJP MLAs demanded an enquiry into the lapses.

In a related move, M. Dharma Rao, BJP MLA from Hanamkonda, denied media reports that he had manhandled S. Balasubrahmanyam, Director of Information and Public Relations (DIPR). However, the incident found an echo in distant Cuddapah where the DIPR staff condemned the "attack'' on their boss.

A number of Ministers including T. Devender Goud, P. Ramulu, Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, N. Janardhan Reddy, the Mayor, T. Krishna Reddy, the chairman of Sports Authority of AP (SAAP), PNV Prasad, Vice-Chairman, L.V. Subrahmanyam, and others participated in the teleconference.

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