Three Delhi districts have no sports facilities: Report
NEW DELHI: Calling sports a “low priority” for Delhi’s Directorate of Education (DOE), the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)’S report on Tuesday said the department has not finalised a ‘Delhi Sports Policy,’ and that out of the 13 districts in the national Capital, three had no sports facilities. Among six of these districts, a swimming pool was the only facility available.
The CAG report also noted that DOE did not surrender its unspent budget of ₹13.22 crore between 2014 and 2017 to the finance department, and has lapsed.
The department has four stadia, 12 sports complexes, two cricket complexes, a hockey sports complex and 15 swimming pools, but none of these are in the districts of North-east, SouthWest A, or New Delhi, according to the CAG report. The number of sports coaches or life-guards for swimming pools was also found to be “not adequate.”
Government officials had reportedly told the CAG that though the DOE had taken steps to develop at least one ‘sports centre’ in each district, scarcity of land meant it could not do so, and now it planned to develop sports facilities wherever land was available.
Funds have also been delayed or not released at all to Delhi Sports Associations between 2016 and 2017, “as (DOE) could not finalise the procedure to be followed for selection of sports associations for releasing grant and the entire budget provision of ₹1 crore remained unspent.”
Similarly, there was a year’s delay in release of ₹1.50 crore (six times the prescribed limit of ₹25 lakhs) to Delhi Olympic Association after the ‘Delhi Olympic Games’ in October 2015. As a result, winners had to wait a year to get their prize money.