Post trials for Govt Sports School, list of selected candidates all but forgotten

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, May 20

Two months ago, the trials for the residential wing of the Government Sports School were held. But until now, neither has the list of selected candidates been released, nor the wing started. Amidst the hustle and bustle of elections, the players seem to have been forgotten by the government. Campaigning for the elections is being done, and big promises are being made, but the ground reality is different.

The coaches of various games said that the players who gave the trials have been inquiring about selection and admissions. There are 334 seats for the day scholar wing for which the sports officials said nearly 1,000 players had taken part. For 120 seats in the residential wing, 457 candidates had appeared in the trials.

Those who get selected are given training by coaches of the sports department and are also given a diet allowance. The players who get selected for the day scholar wing are given a diet allowance of Rs 120 per day, while those for residential wing get a diet allowance of Rs 250 every day.

One of the coaches, requesting anonymity, said that last year too, the wings had started late. “We keep on getting queries from the players. With this attitude, we may see much lower participation, which has already decreased over the last few years,” he said.

Jalandhar is renowned for producing exceptional national and international players, including recipients of the prestigious Padma Shri and Arjuna awards. However, the participation in trials for the sports wings has dwindled over the years. Coaches attribute this decline to the diminishing interest of students in sports, as more and more of them are opting to move abroad in pursuit of different vocations. The coaches further added that there was a high possibility that any further delay would lead to the players taking admissions in other institutes and they would not come.