Will they beef it up?

The Organising Committee is playing fence-sitter on the issue of serving cow meat at Commonwealth Games

The Organising Committee is playing fence-sitter on the issue of serving cow meat at Commonwealth Games

To be(ef) of not to be(ef) is the question Commonwealth Games organisers are not ready to answer unambiguously, at least for now it seems.


Savour it: The IRCTC has bagged the catering contract for the CWG.
(Above) KD stadium in New Delhi pic/Rajeev Tyagi

The Organising Committee of the mega sporting event scheduled for October evaded a direct reply to an RTI plea seeking information about whether beef will be served to the participating athletes or not.
The BJP, which is incidentally in power at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and other saffron outfits have already threatened to boycott the mega sporting event if beef would be served at the games.

Remaining politically correct the committee instead of giving a specific yes or no in reply to the plea, which had sought information under section 7(9) of the RTI Act, said it will provide "nutritious meal to the participants during the games time".
According to the RTI Act, any information sought under Section 7(9) has to be furnished in the format it was asked in.

"I had sought the reply in a clear Yes or No format but CWG's response just adds to the confusion over this sensitive topic," Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, the RTI applicant, told MiD DAY.

The four-page reply by the committee says: "The Organising Committee Commonwealth Games has decided to provide nutritious meal to the participants during the games time. Commonwealth Games Federation's (CGF) requires from the Organising Committee to provide to a quality 24-hour catering service offering nutritious meals and snacks to the athletes and their team official during the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 taking into consideration cultural dietary requirement and the need for a variety and rotation of menus."

The Other Side

MiD DAY tried contacting Organising Committee Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Lalit Bhanot but his mobile phone was switched off. An SMS sent to him was awaited till the time of going to the press.

If the "cultural dietary requirement" of the athletes would be followed then beef forms an integral part of the European and African athletes. "Beef is one of the most important and staple food items in these countries, especially for athletes," said an expert from the hotel industry, requesting anonymity.

Aggarwal alleged that the committee is just buying time.u00a0 "If I go for an appeal right now, my letter will reach the organisers in a day or two but they will never acknowledge it so early. Further they will take another 45 days to file their reply. Only 87 days are left for the games to begin. "

Govt's side

The Delhi government in March had clarified that it will not allow serving of beef during the Commonwealth Games. PWD and revenue minister Raj Kumar Chauhan made a statement to this effect in Delhi Assembly, days after the issue of serving beef during Commonwealth Games rocked the House with BJP MLAs disrupting its functioning. "The Delhi agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994 prohibits the sale and storage of beef and so will not allow serving of beef during the Commonwealth Games," Chauhan informed the assembly.