Sports Minister Goel cleans toilet at wrestling c'ship venue
Sports Minister Vijay Goel conducted a surprise check at Delhi's Indira Gandhi stadium, venue of the Asian Wrestling Championships, and cleaned the toilet himself after finding it dirty. Goel's visit came after international wrestlers reportedly complained about dirty washrooms, saying they had to relieve themselves in the open. Goel also pulled up Sports Authority of India officials at the venue.
Delhi's Indira Gandhi Stadium had a surprise visitor on Friday. Sports minister Vijay Goel showed up after reading a Mail Today report on the dirty toilets, messy surroundings and swarms of mosquitoes at the arena that are proving to be a prickly problem for Indian and international wrestlers who have gathered for a championship.Goel visited each restroom, with jolted Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials in tow. The administration that was caught unawares had cleaned up some of the toilets. But many others that were still in poor condition.The minister was clearly upset after spotting tissue papers littered all over the floor of one washroom and started cleaning it himself. He then hauled up SAI administrator Manjushree Roy.Roy tried to control the situation by putting the onus on the Wrestling Federation of India that is hosting the Asian Wrestling Championships at the stadium's KD Jadhav indoor hall. But Goel was not satisfied with her response.The anxiety on Roy's face was palpable as the minister's personal assistant kept taking note of everything and also clicked pictures of the dirty corners. Goel said a committee, looking after the utilisation of stadiums, will also scrutinise the cleanliness of the facilities."It must have got cleaned," he joked. "I regularly visit stadiums. I have visited almost all the stadiums, except this one. I had come here two-three days ago. Today, everything is clean. The administrators are saying that the responsibility is with the other agency but the foreigners who are coming for competition will not see whether it's a mistake of A or B. When an international event is held, the players and others go back with the impression about India and not about various agencies involved."The incident comes about three years into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission that aims to make the country clean and free of open defecation by 2019. The PM led the drive in 2014 by wielding the broom at the Mandir Marg Police Station in the Capital and exhorted everyone to follow suit.'NO POINT OF BLAME GAME'"It is the duty of all to make it clean. Together, we will have to work on this issue. There's no point of blame game," Goel told reporters.Mail Today on Friday reported that international wrestlers, who are here for the championship, have lodged a strong protest with the WFI. Some said they have been forced to answer nature's call out in the open.Asked if he will form a task force to look into the matter, the minister said, "We are making efforts for better utilisation of stadiums. And we have already made a committee for it. The same committee will also give report on such issues and on how the agencies here in such stadiums work."The minister also directed that the SAI should not depend on organisers, but should look after the cleanliness work on its own. He said that the maintenance and sustenance of the stadiums has to be done throughout the year and should not be event-specific.