Games Official Angers India With Hygiene Comment

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/world/asia/25india.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=globaleua1&pagewanted=all

Had the statement come from a non-Indian, especially a Westerner, it probably would have been angrily repudiated as an affront to Indian dignity. But the offending words came from a top Indian official trying to deflect criticism for the bureaucratic failings and lax preparations threatening the coming Commonwealth Games.

The issue was reports of unsanitary conditions inside the athletes’ village, a facility promoted by Indian organizers as world class. Officials of the New Zealand team, arriving early, had been horrified at dirt-caked bathrooms and soiled rooms. The explanation offered by Lalit Bhanot, the second-ranking official on the organizing committee? Indians and Westerners have different standards of hygiene.

“These rooms are clean to both you and us,” Mr. Bhanot told Indian reporters this week. Foreigners “want certain standards in hygiene and cleanliness which may differ from our perception,” he said.

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Indians acknowledge that sanitation is woefully lacking in many parts of the country. But Mr. Bhanot’s suggestion that their government cannot, even under the glare of a global spotlight, deliver a high standard of hygiene in an expensive new facility fueled broad public indignation that rippled through television talk shows and Internet message boards.

“It is unbelievable that a person holding such a responsible position can make such a statement,” said J. Anand, vice president of a New Delhi travel agency. “Hygiene is hygiene, whether it is in India or anywhere else. I feel embarrassed by that statement.”
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