Published Date: 8/Dec/2009
G Saravanan
Chennai, December 7: HOW important is sports to the Chennai Corporation? One yardstick is the official mechanism the civic body has put in place to promote sports.For starters, Chennai Corporation does not have a dedicated department to promote sporting activity in the city.
Sport is just part of the stadium department, which falls under the Parks and Playfields Department. The stadium department manages the 228 playgrounds of the corporation.
Two, the post of stadium officer has been lying vacant for the past seven years. At present, an in-charge officer with no executive powers is officiating as the stadium officer.
Three, there was a proposal to abolish the whole sports wing a few months ago, since some officials, in their wisdom, thought it was useless. The civic body is yet to take a final call in the matter.
Four, the stadium department is rapid losing manpower, according to sources. A few years ago, the department had two stadium officers (one for North and another for South Chennai) and its total employee strength was about 140. Now, there is just one stadium officer and the staff strength has dropped to 36 with no appointments being made against retirement.
Five, the number of coaches appointed by the civic body to promote football, volleyball, basketball and swimming among youngsters has also dived. Till some months ago, the corporation had over 20 coaches for different disciplines; that figure has now come down to single digit.
When Express confronted a senior official in the civic body for his response on the apparent apathy, he argued: “The corporation does not need a dedicated.
sports department as the Sport Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) is responsible for sport development.” Oh, really? SDAT’s job is to groom talent. Identifying talent at the grassroots level is the task of the Chennai Corporation.Clearly the local body needs to get its priorities right.
G Saravanan
Chennai, December 7: HOW important is sports to the Chennai Corporation? One yardstick is the official mechanism the civic body has put in place to promote sports.For starters, Chennai Corporation does not have a dedicated department to promote sporting activity in the city.
Sport is just part of the stadium department, which falls under the Parks and Playfields Department. The stadium department manages the 228 playgrounds of the corporation.
Two, the post of stadium officer has been lying vacant for the past seven years. At present, an in-charge officer with no executive powers is officiating as the stadium officer.
Three, there was a proposal to abolish the whole sports wing a few months ago, since some officials, in their wisdom, thought it was useless. The civic body is yet to take a final call in the matter.
Four, the stadium department is rapid losing manpower, according to sources. A few years ago, the department had two stadium officers (one for North and another for South Chennai) and its total employee strength was about 140. Now, there is just one stadium officer and the staff strength has dropped to 36 with no appointments being made against retirement.
Five, the number of coaches appointed by the civic body to promote football, volleyball, basketball and swimming among youngsters has also dived. Till some months ago, the corporation had over 20 coaches for different disciplines; that figure has now come down to single digit.
When Express confronted a senior official in the civic body for his response on the apparent apathy, he argued: “The corporation does not need a dedicated.
sports department as the Sport Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) is responsible for sport development.” Oh, really? SDAT’s job is to groom talent. Identifying talent at the grassroots level is the task of the Chennai Corporation.Clearly the local body needs to get its priorities right.
No comments:
Post a Comment