A pitched turf war is going on on the corridors of Consultancy Service Organization (CSO), an arm of Central Public Works Department, which has recently floated a tender (NIT No.2/EE-II/CSO/06-07) for providing and laying of nine synthetic hockey pitches across India. Expectedly so, because the money at stake is a whopping 24 crores.

The good news is that some of the hitherto neglected hockey centres like ‘Southern Sansarpur’ and nerve centre of Coorg hockey, Medikere, and the tribal hockey heartland, Sundargarh, the hometown of both India’s 2006 men and women World Cup captains, Dilip Tirkey and Jothi Sunita Kullu, will have their own synthetic turf soon.

Besides, artificial hockey turfs will also be laid in some Sports Authority of India training centres at Kolkata, Gandhinagar, Shillaroo (Himachal Pradesh), Patiala, Sonepat (Haryana) and Khandivali (Mumbai).

The bad news is that after nine parties, each representing a global brand in India, purchased the tender last fortnight, a corrigendum has been issued to the original tender document which has become a bone of contention now. This has even the portends of taking the matter to the courts. The corrigendum has set lobbying in motion rather than setting the process of laying the pitches in motion.

The corrigendum issued on 5th October (Letter No.CSO/P-138/2008/hockey/1076 ), among others, seek to delete clause 7 (iv) and Appendix I on page No. 12 of the original document. The said appendix listed seven FIH tournaments held in the last four years including Olympics, World Cup, Champions Trophy and their qualifiers besides Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, while clause (7 iv) forbade the pitches not used in those events from bidding.

Rajiv Sharma, General Manager of Delhi based Jubilee Technologies, the Indian representative Poligrass brand says that the corrigendum lends equal status to manufacturers of inferior quality turfs to compete against the quality ones. “Recently turfs were laid at Chennai, Rourkela and other places. Those tenders had such a technical eligibility clause, meaning the product offered should have been used in any of the major tournaments”.

However, Hiren Seth, Managing Director of Bombay based Sportina Exim Pvt Ltd, which markets Belgium product ‘Desso’ in India refutes. “This is because of ‘Delhi lobby’ such a clause was introduced in the first place to deprive us from competing. Am happy it is deleted now. If Prime Minister travels in Mercedes, it does not mean Benz is inferior. In Olympics or World Cups, the organizers go by donations not by any other parameter”.

Seth argues why an organization expert in construction activity should make tender for sports while there is a full pledged sporting organization like Sports Authority of India (SAI). Seth quotes Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affair’s letter (dated 5.9.2005, addressed to Vice Chancellor, GNIPE, Gwalior) that goes against the bids that incorporate technical specifications over and above FIH’s approval. Accepting that his Belgium based parent company Desso DLW sports Systems NV did make a representation to CPWD, Seth says, “like any other competitor ours is also FIH approved and that should solve all the apprehensions about us”.

Inderjeet Mehta, Director, India Projects, who represents Germany based Polytan brand in India, pooh-poohs FIH approval theory. “FIH is like a government that needs kaccha roads, highways and superhighways and therefore approves all these three kinds of roads. It is upto the authorities now what they want, kaccha road or superhighways?.FIH made it clear that the buyers should decide the durability factor of the products they approve”.

Mehta also submitted a memorandum to IHF on Saturday on this issue a copy of which is with this writer.

Despite repeated calls, Rogge Dias, Director (Equipment) with SAI refused to talk about the issue and the Secretary, SAI, Dr. Sinha too did not return calls. It is strongly rumoured that due to some SAI officials’ interference the corrigendum was introduced. In this age of Right To Information, SAI officials’ unwillingness to talk is incomprehensible.

IHF Secretary Jothi Kumaran accepted that they were not consulted in this issue , but expressed happiness: ‘so many turfs are coming up in India ‘.

Sources in the CPWD refutes the charge that the corrigendum was issued under pressure from any quarter, but assigns the reasons for the second thought to the routine internal processes of checks and counter checks. “We do not want to restrict anybody from bidding and then land in legal wrangle”, said one official involved in the process.

Olympian M. K. Kaushik, expert member in the Haryana Pitch Committee (2000-2003) that procured and laid two turfs each at Gurgaon and Shahbad says procuring turf is a complex issue in India. “What