Nominated players for national handball team and a few senior physical education teachers on Wednesday claimed that the J&K Youth Services and Sports Department has told them ‘department has no money to send them on national tour’.
The state’s prime sports department has often been involved in such casses and players have been dejected with this statement as it’s never easy to make it to the national team, “You can imagine, what it feels! You’re selected for a national team and event is only some days away and suddenly you are said that there are no funds,” a player told KSW.
DYSS- Representational pic
The tournament is scheduled to start from 1st January at Madhya Pradesh and players think that the way officials are behaving, team’s participation is unlikely, “When we say them (officials) about the event, they react angrily saying, “Go and ask the director”,” another player said.
Department’s negligence has been concerning for some senior physical education teachers as well. One of them while talking to KSW said that if people at helm are not intrested in doing their job, they should either resign or close down the department,
“I have been seeing all this since years. They first ask us to select teams from inter-class to inter-province, which involves a very huge and hectic process but when the time for national events arrive, they simply put their backs up,” a senior teacher told us while wishing anonymity.
To clear the air about the matter, KSW reached the director general J&K Youth Services and Sports Department, Mr. Saleem-ur-Rehman,
“There are still some days left for the event. We will think about what we can do,” Mr. Rehman said.
When asked about the players’ been dejected, “What I told! We will do what we have to,” he reacted.
The widely spread department claiming to have no funds seems just an excuse to avoid the major events. Meanwhile, it would be interesting to see what they do the next.