Udupi (The Hindu): Rs. 30 crore allocated under MGNREGA for developing playgrounds. Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, Pramod Madhwaraj, said on Tuesday that his department would identify 500 sportspersons with potential in the State and ask big companies to sponsor their training under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.

He was chairing a stakeholders’ meeting to gather their opinion for drawing up the State’s sports policy, here. Physical directors, coaches, and heads of private sports associations from Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Chikkamagaluru districts participated in the meeting.

Meeting planned

Mr. Madhwaraj said he would soon hold a meeting of representatives of big companies so that detailed discussions could be held on how to utilise the CSR funds. His department was planning to allow private parties to use stadia for their sports meets as this would help generate revenue. The money could be used for development of stadia and their maintenance.

He said the government had allocated Rs. 30 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme for developing playgrounds. All headmasters would be informed that MGNREGA funds were available to develop playgrounds and mud tracks on the playgrounds in schools located in villages.

He would hold stakeholders’ meetings in Belagavi, Mysuru and Bengaluru too. Such a meeting had already been held in Kalaburagi.

There were many demands and lot of expectations from the sports policy. While it was not possible to incorporate all the demands, efforts would be made to a draw a “good” sports policy, he said. His department would work in close coordination with the departments of Education, Health and other related departments so that sports programmes and tournaments could be held without any hiccups, he said.

Earlier, M. Mohan Alva, president of the Alva’s Education Foundation, Moodbidri, said children should be trained in sports from the primary school level. Sports should be made part of the education system. The government should incorporate the view of private organisations working in the field of sports. Grace marks should be given to students participating in sports tournaments, he said.

Calendar of events

Physical directors should be appointed for all schools and colleges. A calendar of sports events should be drawn up so that they do not clash with academic events or examinations.

All educational institutions should be told to have playgrounds. Reservation in jobs should be provided to sportspersons. The budgetary allocation for sports should be increased from the present Rs. 150 crore a year, he said.