MEAGRE DIET MONEY Punjab players struggle to meet nutritional needs
BARNALA: Mandeep Kaur, 13, of Thikriwala village, falling in the constituency of Punjab sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, cleared the weightlifting trial in the hope of getting the nutrition diet that her indigent family can’t afford. Unfortunately, she remained deprived of diet last year as not a single contractor came forward to take up the contract due to the low amount of diet.
She again cleared the trials on Thursday, but again this year, she might not get the diet as contractors are shying away from taking the tender.
The sports department has been giving ₹200 for the diet of residential players and ₹100 for the non-residential players for the last 10 years even as the prices of commodities have shot up many folds.
As per the sports department, the diet of non-residential players includes two packets of milk, six bananas and 25 grams of dry fruits, while the diet plan of residential players comprises half a kg of milk, 100 grams of ‘kacha paneer, two bananas and meal in the breakfast, chicken, chapati, green vegetables, paneer, sweet dish and bed tea with biscuits.
“Earlier, I was taking contracts to give diet to players in Barnala and nearby districts. Now it is not economically viable for me. I contributed from my pocket when the last time I took the contract. Prices of commodities have increased in the past few years, but the diet amount has remained the same,” a contractor, pleading anonymity, said.
Not a pan-Punjab phenomenon A coach, posted at one of the districts in the state, said, “In many places, the department has been able to find a contractor for players’ diet, but there are a few places where there were no takers last year. The officials here managed to find a contractor last year, but the diet has been compromised both in terms of quality and quantity. Sometimes the contractor fails to provide the diet as per the menu.”
District sports officer (DSO) of Barnala, Balwinder Singh, said, “We did not get any contractor last year, and this year too, there has been no response to the tender process. The main demand is that the diet money should be increased or the department should change the menu.”
Officials of the sports department said that the players get a diet for only 25 days a month. They do not get a diet during government holidays and on Sundays. Besides, the department provides a diet for only seven months.
The sports department has also reduced the number of seats in the sports wing of the districts. Earlier, there were over 5,000 seats for residential and non-residential players across the state. However, this year, the sports department has conducted trials for around 4,500 seats. Out of which 520 are residential and 4,000 non-residential.
A coach, pleading anonymity, said, “In the 2018 sports policy, the then state government had promised to bring around 1 lakh children into government training centres. However, instead of trying to achieve this target, the current government has decreased the number of seats.”
Sarvjeet Singh, additional chief secretary, said, “We had a meeting with the finance department, and an increase of ₹25 each for the diet of residential and non-residential players has been approved.”
“The decision of reducing seats has been taken on director level due to budgetary limitation. We are also looking into all the other issues,” he said
Sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, did not respond to repeated calls and messages.