Amid growing concern about the Commonwealth Games preparations running behind schedule, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Sports Minister MS Gill met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and briefed him on the status of the Games projects.

According to sources, however, Tuesday’s meeting may become a monthly feature, with the PMO becoming the nodal agency to assess the preparations.

The development comes close to a month after Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell had slammed the Suresh Kalmadi-led Organising Committee and requested a meeting with the Prime Minister to brief him on “the lack of preparations” and seek his input for “a recovery plan”.

While most of the monitoring work is supposed to be undertaken by the CGF, it is understood that the Prime Minister will henceforth meet all concerned senior officials each month to review the progress. It is expected to help coordination among the multiple agencies involved in the preparations — a need for which has been expressed by, among others, the Sports Minister.

During Tuesday’s meeting, which incidentally comes ahead of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s general assembly beginning in the Capital on Thursday, the CM assured Prime Minister Singh that all efforts were being taken to make the event a success and that all the projects would be completed well in time. They also discussed the Queen’s Baton Relay ceremony, to be held in London on October 29, where Queen Elizabeth II will hand over the Games baton to India’s Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra at the Buckingham Palace.

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