Government allocates funds for sports infrastructure in Gurugram’s colleges

The circular issued on Friday mentions that the allocated funds could be used to create sports infrastructure such as playgrounds, buy equipment, and arrange facilities that are women- and disabled-friendly

The higher education department on Friday issued directions to all the colleges in the state to put in place sports infrastructure and other sports facilities with funds it has sanctioned for the academic year 2019-2020. An amount of ₹6,30,000 has been divided and sanctioned for seven government colleges in the Gurugram district.

Directions given to all the government colleges in the state to put in place sports infrastructure and other sports facilities. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The circular issued on Friday mentions that the allocated funds could be used to create sports infrastructure such as playgrounds, buy equipment, and arrange facilities that are women- and disabled-friendly. College administrators, however, said that while recurring costs could be covered with the yearly funds, additional funds might be needed for bigger projects.

Pooja Khullar, principal, Dronacharya Government College, said that the funds covered multiple activities under its ambit, and while the college would utilise it to the best of its ability, additional funds might be needed. The college has been sanctioned ₹1,80,000. “We have started the MA physical education course from this year and need to create a sports laboratory for the same. We will have to assess if the requirement of sports equipment and facilities will be covered under the budget that has been allocated. Many things need to be taken care of,” said Khullar.

She said that in addition to the creation of new facilities, already existing facilities had to be revamped, and the college might have to use amalgamated funds. “We have an annual athletic meet. Students have to be trained for athletic meets and given equipment. All these costs cannot always be covered under the annual budget while we try to do so. We have to use our amalgamated funds are used as per the need,” she said.

Satyamanyu Yadav, principal, Government College, Sector 9, said that many areas where funds can be allocated are defined under the scheme, but colleges need to assess how it can utilise the funds. “There are some new colleges. This grant can be used to increase the infrastructure facilities in these colleges, but for other colleges, it may not be enough,” said Yadav.

The college has plans of revamping its basketball ground but is yet to receive the funding for the same. “We have sought a separate fund for that. The recent budget allocation can be used for recurring costs and other maintenance and repair works,” he said.