Lost without a game

Without even holding a game, a national-level sports hostel and hockey wing in this native village of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai has died and turned into a ghost house.

Without even holding a game, a national-level sports hostel and hockey wing in this native village of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai has died and turned into a ghost house.

HT Image

In 1964, Phul Renu Guha, the-then union minister of state for social welfare, had laid the foundation stone of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hostel at Dhudike. The complex was completed in 1968, but in 44 years since then, the state sports department has never used it.

The 33-room hostel, four acres of hockey wing, a two-floor structure worth Rs 45 lakh, and another 21 ground-floor rooms are all deserted. "No athlete ever used the sports hostel and hockey wing," said Jagtar Singh, sarpanch of Dhudike. "Vandals, however, utilised it as toilet, and stole all the fittings. Drug addicts use it as a hideout and villagers dump their sewage on its grounds."

The village authorities pleaded with the sports department and director of public instructions, colleges, to take possession of the facility. "The panchayat cannot take over the buildings because these are public works department structures," said the sarpanch. "Only the state government can take decision on it, and it has sat on it for many years."

It was a new issue raised, deputy commissioner Arshdeep Singh Thind said in reply to a question. "If the villagers apply through a proper channel, the administration will pay attention to their demand, definitely," he said. "I will send a subdivisional magistrate (SDM) to the spot and, based on his report, write to the government for further action."