A day before the commencement of block-level games under the much-awaited ‘Punjab Khed Mela’, director sports, Punjab, on Wednesday allocated ₹2-lakh each for 14 block to the local sports department, which had been under financial crunch to conduct the event.
In a letter addressed to all district sports officers in the state, the director office permitted ₹40 for the diet of each participant along with funds for tents, sound system, photography, banners, furniture, labour, water, etc. It has been directed that expenditure on all the games at the block-level should not exceed ₹70,000 excluding food. Moreover, with food, the expenditure limit of ₹2-lakh per block has been allocated by the state sports department. An advance of ₹1 lakh was transferred in the accounts of district sports departments across the state.
After receiving numerous complaints from the local sports department, expressing inefficiency to conduct the games in the absence of funds, the director sports released the funds.
Sources said DSOs had flagged the issue in a meeting with the director sports on Tuesday. A few DSOs had even submitted written requests with the sports department regarding the same after which the funds were finally released on Wednesday.
{{/usCountry}}Sources said DSOs had flagged the issue in a meeting with the director sports on Tuesday. A few DSOs had even submitted written requests with the sports department regarding the same after which the funds were finally released on Wednesday.
{{/usCountry}}“All coaches here were anxious initially as they were asked to digs into their pocket and get their bills cleared after the tournaments. Now, the coaches have heaved a sigh of relief as the funds have been distributed to them,” a senior coach here said.
15,000 to take part in block-level games
Around 15,000 players will participate in the block-level games under various categories in Ludhiana.
While the registrations for the entry in the six block-level games concluded on August 30, sports lovers are still registering for the district-level games.
The block-level games have been scheduled from September 1 to September 7 and will include six games— volleyball, athletics, football, Kabaddi, kho-kho and tug of war. While the district level games will include a total of 22 games.
“Participants will have to register directly for district-level sports which have not been included in the block-level games schedule, however, for the ones included, the winners will be qualified for the district-level competitions— scheduled from September 12 to September 22,” a senior sports officer said.
A total of 28 games have been included in the state level competitions scheduled from October 10 to October 21.
The Punjab government is expecting participation of over five lakh sports lovers in the two months’ event.
Meanwhile, sources in the department added that due to sluggish response from the participants here, the local sports department had to press hard for the maximum participation of school students.
Moreover, due to shortage of staff, DSO also asked the education department to send their physical education teachers to conduct the block-level games along with the coaches of the sports department.