Open gym in Sec 37 community centre to public, says Chandigarh councillor

Two days after the Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the issue of non-utilisation of gyms in community centres, AAP councillor Yogesh Dhingra has raised the demand to allow the residents to use the facility.

In a statement issued today, Dhingra said that the community centre located in Sector 37, Chandigarh, has expensive fitness equipment worth lakhs of rupees. They are gathering dust in the gym that has remained closed for years. This has put a question mark on the functioning of the municipal corporation.

He said that on one hand the youth of the city are spending Rs 15,000-20,000 annually in private gyms, while on the other hand the gyms built in the community centres are lying unused. Dhingra said, “The Administration talks about ‘Developed India 2047’ every day, but when public money worth lakhs is being wasted, who will take responsibility for it?”

The councillor said that under the programmes to keep the youth away from drugs, the Administrator should get the closed gyms open as soon as possible, so that the youth could adopt a healthy lifestyle. With residents saying that the money invested on these gyms is their tax money, so they should be able to use this facility.

He also suggested that the MC should change its policy and bring such facilities within the reach of the people. The councillor has demanded that these closed gyms should be started immediately.