Pending aid to sports assns by Oct, says Sawant

Porvorim: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday assured the House that pending grants of various sports associations in Goa — running into crores of rupees — would be cleared by Oct in all cases where utilisation certificates have been submitted by the associations to govt.

Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai raised the issue in the House, stating that while the govt called football a state sport, Rs 11 crore aid is pending. He said that only Rs 2.5 lakh of the earmarked Rs 72 lakh for football over four years has been paid so far by govt.

“If you don’t give grants, you will not get results. For associations of sports like athletics, boxing, badminton, and sepak takraw with a good number of members, no grants have been given by govt. Whereas, grants have been given to associations for yogasana and pencak silat, which have few or no members. For the Goa Badminton Association, Rs 10.8 lakh of grants have been kept pending. Why?” said Sardesai.

The MLA also questioned the logic behind providing Khelo India Centres at only Sanquelim and Ponda. “We will have Khelo India centres in all 12 talukas in a phased manner,” replied Sawant.