The Commonwealth Games organising committee’s volunteer programme has received queries from two British universities which want to send students as volunteers.

While Leeds University plans to send 100 students, Shepherd University has not specified any number yet, Newsline has learnt. The dialogue with both universities is at an initial stage, a senior official from the organising committee said.

The Games committee will require about 30,000 volunteers for the mega event taking place from October 3 to 14 next year. While the youths will work for free, “we will have to at least give accommodation in case we get international volunteers,” the official said. “These administrative decisions are yet to be taken, so we have not replied to them (British universities) yet.”

The only concession the volunteers will get is free travel on DTC buses and Delhi Metro trains. “They will get free travel by showing their volunteer identity card,” the official said.

The Games organising committee is hunting for a firm to train the volunteers. According to a senior official, the tender has been finalised and will be floated soon. The volunteers have to be trained in different aspects — first-aid, disaster management and so forth.

The organising committee also plans to give away awards to encourage volunteers, and a mega event will be held only for the volunteers once the Games get over, the official said.

Manjushree Roy, director of the volunteer programme, said the organising committee will formally launch the volunteer programme on December 5, marked as the International Volunteer Day. “We will launch a volunteer portal where anyone, including senior citizens, can register,” Roy said.

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