CM Admits to Lapses; Pats Sports Minister

Oommen Chandy toes the line of Chief Secretary that there were lapses in inaugural ceremony but placates Thiruvanchoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the Chief Secretary embarrassed the state government by stating that there were organisational issues and overspending during the opening ceremony of the National Games, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy admitted that there were some lapses.

The Chief Minister, however, made it clear that the Cabinet, which met on Wednesday, discussed the issue and the government is fully satisfied with the conduct of the games.

On being asked about the Chief Secretary’s negative remarks, Oommen Chandy, speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing, said the government is fully satisfied with the organisation of the event. Chandy, however, said he agrees with the issues raised by Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson. 

“On coming to know about Chief Secretary’s remarks on Tuesday, I called him up. He told me about some issues which even I agree with. There were some lapses. Even ministers didn’t get seats. Many didn’t get passes. These could have been avoided,” Chandy said.

The Chief Minister said there were many allegations raised prior to the event. “But the event went as per the schedule. There were no complaints from the participating teams or the IOA about the conduct of the games,” he said.   Asked about the Chief Secretary’s criticism on the `15 crore being spent for the inaugural ceremony, Chandy said it was approved by the committee in 2011. “We will not let the morale of the officials to be affected with these criticisms,” he said.

Chandy said the valedictory function will be held as per the schedule. “The budget for the valedictory function has been already sanctioned,” he said. On Tuesday, both the  Sports Minister and the Chief Secretary had said that there would be cost-cutting.

The Chief Minister, who defended the controversial statements made by the Chief Secretary which discredited  Sports Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, also lavished praise on the latter. “Thiruvanchoor is the captain of the National Games team. He has got a good team with games CEO Jacob Punnoose and senior official Sivashankar,” Chandy said. 

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