CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has set up a Rs 3crore speed Fund for grooming Promising youngsters on highly Selective basis.
Talking to newsmen here this afternoon the Director of Sports Punjab Mr T.C. Gupta said that talented youngsters in the age 8roup of 10 to 18 years in any Sports discipline with potential to achieve excellence at the national and international level would be picked under the scheme for Proper grooming training and education
The fund will be managed by the State Sports Council through a Special seven-member committee to be headed by the Adviser to the Governor holding the Sports Portfolio. The administrative Secretaries of the departments of Sports and finance besides the Director-General of Sports Authority of India will be its other members. The Director of Sports will be its member-Secretary.
The first installment of the fund has already been received. Initially the State Government has contributed R s 1 crore which would remain as corpus money. The income generated from it from its investment in different securities including the Certificate of Deposit would be used in achieving the objectives of the fund.
When the corpus money will reach the full level of Rs 3 crore by next year its annual income would be between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 50 lakh a year Mr Gupta said that efforts would be made to persuade public sector undertakings and private industrial houses to contribute to the fund to associate them with this laudable scheme.
The main objective of the fund will be to spot talent and groom it. Mr Gupta said that Punjab was the first State in the country to implement this unique scheme under which the promising youngsters would be provided specialized coaching both in India and abroad diet board and lodging education transport and later also a suitable job On an average Mr Gupta said Rs 2000 to Rs 3000 would be spent on each youngster ever) month Initially the scheme would cover a youngster for a spell of 10 years which was extendable further. In case a player was found lacking he could be dropped also.
Mr Gupta made it clear that money generated from the scheme would be spent only on sportspersons picked under the scheme and not on anything else. Even coaches and ailing Sportspersons would not be covered under the scheme. The fund he said was primarily meant for development of sports in the State.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 21, 1991
