While the state government is vying to allocate a humongous budget to promote sports in the state, the local sports department is in deep water as conducting district-level sports competitions under the Kheda Watan Punjab Diyan 2022 has become a major challenge due to the financial crisis.
According to the sources, due to lack of finances, the department had to cancel the contract of numerous vendors hired here for the district sports tournament scheduled from September 12 to 22.
Though the state sports department allocated ₹10 lakh to the local sports department for the district-level games, the local sports department sought ₹10 lakh more for arranging tents, speakers, prizes, certificates, medals, mementos for VIP’s, snacks, etc.
It was learnt that the sports department allowed ₹2.20 lakh expense for the aforesaid purpose which according to the officials is not feasible.
An official privy to the matter said that since it was not possible to conduct the games on a minute budget, the contract for the tents, speakers, etc had to be withdrawn.
“The vendors have been asked to remove the tents and the sound systems from all the 22 venues of the games in Ludhiana on Tuesday since the local ports department didn’t have funds to pay. Even athletics at the Guru Nanak Stadium were held without speakers after the inaugural ceremony,” an officer shared.
{{/usCountry}}“The vendors have been asked to remove the tents and the sound systems from all the 22 venues of the games in Ludhiana on Tuesday since the local ports department didn’t have funds to pay. Even athletics at the Guru Nanak Stadium were held without speakers after the inaugural ceremony,” an officer shared.
{{/usCountry}}The officer added that contracts might be renewed in case the state sports department gives a nod to the required budget.
Meanwhile, around 1,800 U-14 players participated in a total of 22 games held in Ludhiana on Monday.
Participants of outdoor games had to wait under scorching heat for local MLAs Madan Lal Bagga, Daljit Singh Grewal and Ashok Prashar Pappi, who were invited for the opening ceremony.
In swimming, Aditya Trehan won the top position. Reska Maini won the 100 metre freestyle race in the girls’ category.
Gurnaz Kaur stood first in 500 metre backstroke event, Simranjot Kaur won 100 metres race in girls’ category, Arman Singh won 600 metre race in athletics and Ranvijay Singh bagged the first position in discus throw.
Over 8,000 people from the district have registered for the district-level sports competitions under the Kheda Watan Punjab Diyan 2022 in the district. This includes 2,027 online U-14 category registrations, 2,604 U-17 registrations and 1,915 U-21 registrations.
According to the officials, hundreds of sports lovers have also registered offline and the winners of a few block-level games have also advanced to the district-level competitions.
Schedule
Matches for under-17 (boys’ and girls’) matches will be organised from September 15 to 17.
Similarly, from September 18 to 21, the matches of under-21 players have been scheduled and for age categories 21-40, 41-50, and above 50 (age category), matches will be held on September 21 and 22.
The district-level matches for para-sports will be held from September 21 to 22 at Guru Nanak Stadium here.