Dr Jitendra sanctions Rs 10 cr for Udhampur Stadium;Indoor sports hall for each district
STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: As a part of revised allocation of funds under special package for Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday sanctioned an exclusive amount of Rs. 10 crore for completion of construction of outdoor stadium at Udhampur, in response to a written representation made by MLA Udhampur Pawan Gupta and also announced Rs. 92 crore for construction of indoor sports halls for each of the 22 districts of the State and upgradation of the existing stadiums at Poonch and Rajouri.
Government of Jammu and Kashmir will be requested to submit to the Union Ministry the estimates/DPRs for the completion of construction of outdoor stadium at Udhampur so that the funds could be released.
The above amount is in addition to an amount of Rs. 84 crore earmarked for development of Maulana Azad Stadium at Jammu and that of Bakshi Stadium at Srinagar.
In the earlier allocations, in addition to Jammu and Srinagar, there was a provision for upgradation of existing stadiums at Poonch and Rajouri, and construction of indoor halls at 12 locations / districts in the State. However, in view of the facts brought out by the Department of Sports, Jammu and Kashmir Government and a letter written by Secretary (Sports) Jammu and Kashmir dated June 25, 2016, Dr Jitendra took the decision that it would be more appropriate if all the 22 districts of the State are covered under the special package with the construction of one indoor hall in each of the districts. As per a handout, whereas 12 districts were already covered, the requirement of funds for the remaining 10 districts was calculated as Rs. 40 crore in addition to Rs. 10 crore for completion of construction of outdoor stadium at Udhampur. As such, the total financial requirement for all these works can be met out through revised reallocation.
Following the revised allocation of funds, Dr Singh said, the total amount allocated for the State of J and K will come to Rs. 200 crore which will also include development of infrastructure for water sports at Mansar Lake in Jammu and at Pahalgam in Kashmir. Dr Jitendra said, the Government of J and K will be requested to identify suitable land for construction of indoor halls at all the 22 districts of the State, which include the 12 earlier ones and the 10 remaining ones incorporated through revised allocations.
He said, the land identified by the State Government should be free from all encumbrances and the Union Ministry of Sports may accordingly be intimated so that required funds could be released.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Delhi Taxi, Tourist Transports and Tour Operators’ Association today called on Dr Jitendra Singh at his North Block office and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention to resolve some of their issues related to Ola, Uber and Taxi for Sure services in the Union capital.