‘Sport is a passion in the region’
GOHANA(SONEPAT): In 2017, the Bhagwan Parshuram Seva Samiti (BPSS) in Haryana’s Bali village joined hands with Yogeshwar Dutt Sports and Education Trust to support a wrestling academy. The college campus under the aegis of BPSS was given to the trust on a five-year lease. Chand Karan Sharma, the BPSS secretary, talks about the fruitful partnership.
Excerpts:
Since the campus was not being put to use in a professional way, the members agreed to support the wrestling academy because the primary aim of the project was to support youngsters from rural areas. Also, it was a good opportunity for us to put the infrastructure to use.
It was the vision of my father to set up an institute of higher education in the area. In 2004, we approached the gram pan- chayat of Bali village (district Sonepat) to donate land to BPSS for setting up the college and they agreed. My father wanted to set up an institute for higher education so that youngsters from rural areas get an opportunity to study. Initially, the response was good. However, with the passage of time students weren’t keen on pursuing engineering course (B.tech) as job opportunities were shrinking. We had to close down the faculty. Since there is passion for sport in the region, there is a proposal to start a sports school. The concept has been discussed by our members. We also had a discussion with Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt. There is also plan to open a skill development project. Certainly. Over 200 children in the age group of 9-15 years from rural areas are getting good facilities for sport. Some players from outside the region are also coming to train, which is a good thing. Hopefully, some of them would keep the tradition of winning laurels for the country in future.