Chandigarh sports dept failed to use ₹77L central funds: Audit
The Chandigarh Sports Council is a statutory body that was constituted on July 1, 1984, with the objective of providing financial assistance for holding national and international tournaments to the sports associations recognised by the national federation/ministry of youth affairs and sports and the sports council itself. It also organises national and international matches.
The principal director of audit, Chandigarh, has highlighted several irregularities in the functioning of the sports department of the UT administration, including the non-utilisation of ₹77 lakh funds under the Centre of Excellence and the non-recovery of dues from defaulter trainees of various academies of the Chandigarh Sports Council. The audit covered the period from 2020 to 2024.
The Chandigarh Sports Council is a statutory body that was constituted on July 1, 1984, with the objective of providing financial assistance for holding national and international tournaments to the sports associations recognised by the national federation/ministry of youth affairs and sports and the sports council itself. It also organises national and international matches. The council runs the Chandigarh Football and Hockey Academy, which houses 90 inmates. All facilities in the academy are provided to players free of charge.
Sorabh Kumar Arora, director sports, UT, said, “We will sort out all the issues that are mentioned in the audit report.”
RK Garg, who procured the report under the RTI Act, said the officials concerned should take note of the irregularities pointed out in the audit.
In October 2020, the ministry of youth affairs and sports, Government of India, approved Hockey Stadium, Sector 42, Chandigarh, as a Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) along with nine other centres in India. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) granted financial assistance under the Centre of Excellence to the Chandigarh Sports Council during 2020-24.
The report pointed out that the council had received a grant-in-aid of ₹1.61 crore during the financial years 2020-21 to 2023-24, but only submitted utilisation certificates for ₹19.46 lakh to the Sports Authority of India regional office, Zirakpur. A utilisation certificate for ₹1.88 lakh was submitted on September 15, 2022, and another for ₹17.58 lakh was submitted on May 12, 2023. However, the office surrendered a balance of ₹40 lakh to the Sports Authority of India regional centre, Zirakpur. Last year in March, the office received an amount of ₹67.35 lakh for 2023-24, while the account balance was ₹77.32 lakh as of March 31, 2024, indicating that the funds were not fully utilised under the scheme.
Non-recovery of penalties from defaulter trainees
The report highlighted that the Sports Council runs Football, Cricket, and Hockey Academy (CFHA) coaching schemes in cricket, football, and hockey under its Talent grooming programme for schoolchildren of the union territory of Chandigarh and the urban/rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, as well as other union territories. The report noted that eight trainees left the academy in the middle of the training period. As per the agreement made with the parents, if the trainee do not complete the prescribed education/coaching, the guardian and ward are liable to pay a penalty as prescribed in the agreement for the period from the date of admission until withdrawal/discharge from the academy. An amount of ₹14 lakh is outstanding against eight defaulter trainees.
No physical verification of fixed assets
The report stated that the examination of records of the office of the secretary, Chandigarh Sports Council, for the period from April 2020 to March 2024 revealed that no physical verification of fixed assets/consumable goods and materials was carried out during or at the end of the financial year during the audit period to verify the articles issued, consumed, declared condemned, destroyed, outdated, or expired.
No Chandigarh Sports Council meet held in last 4 yrs
As per para 4.3 of the constitution of the Chandigarh Sports Council, the council shall hold at least two meetings a year. The audit report stated that meetings of the Chandigarh Sports Council were not held from April 2020 to March 2024. Accordingly, eight meetings of the council during the audit period were skipped. The non-conducting of meetings adversely affects the council’s functioning and causes delays in finalising important decisions such as passing the annual financial statements and achieving the council’s aims and objectives.