Indian Olympic Association chief and Chairman of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi claims that as of today the committee is behind schedule in only five functional areas and in these too, it will catch up by the end of this month. In this interview with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24x7’s Walk the Talk, Kalmadi claims that the country will be fully prepared for the Commonwealth Games

•My guest this week is somebody who will decide whether one year from now we are a very proud country or a very embarrassed country. Suresh Kalmadi, welcome to Walk the Talk.

It will be a very proud country, no doubt about it.

•I could use a nastier introduction. I can describe you either as a Shera in his den or a mouse in his den, because if the Commonwealth Games goes wrong, you will be in trouble.

It won’t go wrong, I can assure you. India has got a great capacity and we are going to organise the Commonwealth Games very well.

•But nobody who sees what is going on seems to buy that.

When they see the results, they will agree.

•Not your foreign partners, not your Indian partners, not the media. You are in the minority.

The media will soon see everything coming up.

•How far behind are you right now?

We have got 35 functional areas. In about 20 functional areas we were behind some months back, but as of today we are behind in five functional areas. But we will catch up in these by the end of the month. We will be fully prepared for the Commonwealth Games.

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