We didn't need CWG

Now that the Commonwealth Games are over, the entire country can heave a collective sigh of relief. Thanks to the hue and cry just prior to the games over the delays in the preparations, the entire government machinery was put to work and the games were barely rescued. The question is: did the games justify the humiliation, heartaches and the expenses the country had suffered? When India won the bid in 2003, it was argued that the games would cost merely Rs1,899 crore. In return, we will get a chance to project the new India to the world. Delhi will don a new look, will get world class infrastructure that will survive for years. Many of us still had doubts, but the arguments did sound reasonable to most.
But questions remain. Did the CWG improve the Indian image? The CWG are not world class in most disciplines. They are usually ignored by the world. The world now sees us as a rival to China. We are seen as an emerging super power and a society of smart, tech-savvy, young people. But did the CWG strengthen that impression? It did not. Forget the glitches, they were no match for the Beijing Games. The games could not project the emerging new India. On the contrary, the games reinforced our negative stereotypes. It brought into focus dirty games village, corrupt contractors and their shoddy work, delivery dates not kept, deadlines not met, filthy facilities, and money syphoned off. Their only saving grace was that they went off without an untoward incident.
Nobody can deny that Delhi benefited by the CWG. The infrastructure has improved: repaved roads, many flyovers and metro route extension to many areas. New stadiums and facilities have been built and the existing sports structure revamped. Sportspersons will certainly benefit by them. But is that enough? Does this justify the expenses? The CWG estimation kept rising from the initial Rs1,899 crore to the final back-breaking mountain of Rs70,000 crore. A lot could have been done with an investment of such order. We could have overhauled health care systems in our cities or built thousands of schools. We could have done a lot to bring some system to our chaotic traffic. We could have recruited more policeman and given all of them better facilities. We could have build roads, irrigated more land and saved the life of many farmers. The CWG were held spending your and my money. Given a choice, we would have opted for better policing and a better future for our children.