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Punjab Kheda Mela receives tepid response in Ludhiana
While the registrations for Punjab Kheda Mela commenced on August 10, mere 2,500 sports enthused from Ludhiana had registered for the participation till August 24. Notably 4,675 people in Ludhiana had registered till August 25— the previous deadline for registration, which has now been extended till 30 due to the limited response
The much-awaited ‘Punjab Khed Mela’, scheduled to kickstart from September 1, is witnessing a lukewarm response pertaining to participation in Ludhiana. Only 6,965 people here have registered for the mega sports event until Sunday, which is much lesser than the turnout expected by officials in the district.
The Punjab government is expecting participation of over five lakh sports lovers in the two months’ event, which seems to be an uphill task now, according to the sports department officials.
While the registrations commenced on August 10, mere 2,500 sports enthused from the district had registered for the participation till August 24. Notably 4,675 people in Ludhiana had registered till August 25— the previous deadline for registration, which has now been extended till 30 due to the limited response.
According to the sources, seeing the sluggish response, sports officials wrote to the senior officers of the local education department to motivate students from schools to ensure their participation.
A total of 2,560 sports lovers across the district, including students from various schools, had registered on August 25.
“We got maximum registrations on Thursday which people thought was the last day. People usually have the tendency to linger on till the last date. We have received a lot of participation from school students now. There was very minimal participation till August 20,” a senior sports officer here said.
DSO assigns duties to conduct block-level games
Meanwhile, Ludhiana district sports officer Ravinder Singh on Thursday held a meeting with all the coaches deputed here under the local sports department and assigned them duties to prepare and conduct the block-level games scheduled from September 1 to September 7.
DSO has 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.
Block-level games will be held in 14 blocks of Ludhiana, including municipal corporation block.
Players will compete under various categories in a total of six games in block-level competitions, including volleyball, athletics, football, kabaddi, kho-kho and tug of war.
The winners will further compete at district-level games scheduled from September 12 to September 22 and further will clash in the state-level competition scheduled from October 10 to October 21.
Online registration an uphill task for many
Many people faced issues to register themselves for the sports fair online and thus, they reached the DSO office here for the physical registration.
“Those who couldn’t register online were given forms at our office here and our officials made registrations on their behalf. We want maximum people to participate,” the DSO said.
Coaches fear delay in reimbursement of bills
A senior coach deputed in Ludhiana, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We had sought sports equipment since long from the department, but are yet to get those. Now, I hope we get the equipment to conduct the matches. We have been directed to spend money from our pockets to buy certain things required for the tournaments for which we have been assured of reimbursements later.”
He added that the sports department has asked coaches to send the quotation of any purchase beyond ₹500. “All coaches will end up shelling from their pockets. I hope our bills get cleared too,” he said.
