AARYAN SHARMA
Jammu: Naib Subedar Bana Singh had successfully captured the Quaid post located at the worlds’ highest battle field in Siachen on 26 June 1987. In recognition of his brave act he was later awarded the rank of Honorary Captain and a sports stadium in RS Pura was named after him to motivate the rural masses to join the armed forces.
The brave soldier, one of the surviving Param Vir Chakra Awardee (PVC), retired from the active service in October 2000 and earned many laurels.
Ironically, successive state governments in the state have failed to build the sports stadium despite making tall claims of strengthening the sports infrastructure in the rural pockets of Jammu region.
The entry point of the sports stadium tells a story of neglect as its boundary wall is used as public urinal by the passersby and the portion of the ground as parking lot by the students/staff of adjacent degree college.
For sports persons an indoor hall has been constructed but the same remains locked most of the time. The pavilion is yet to be completed, leaving little or no scope for the Sports Council to organise any sporting event.
Omar Abdullah led alliance government in the state had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh in April 2010 for the sports stadium but authorities claimed the work could not be completed due to non availability of funds.
Even the local residents care little for the iconic figure of their area as they use the ground for attending the call of nature. There are no tell-tale signs of heroic act of Hon Capt Bana Singh. He himself feels sorry for the response of the state governments so far.
On many occasions in the past he has been quoted in different media reports about the plight of the sports stadium. It remains to be seen whether the BJP-PDP alliance government in the state would accord much needed respectability to the sports stadium and convert it in to a sporting arena or allow it to rotten as public urinal.
