Pargat: Previous govts were indifferent to sports

BLURB: Says dumped all his plans during their tenure

BOX: Inaugurates 2 colleges in Muktsar

n Education Minister Pargat Singh inaugurated two government colleges at Husnar and Danewala villages in Muktsra

n Meanwhile, some contract employees, teachers and unemployed youths showed black flags to the minister’s cavalcade at Danewala chowk in Malout town

Our Correspondent

Abohar, December 20

Education and Sports Minister Pargat Singh, in his address after laying the foundation stone of a government college at Sukhchain village near here, took a dig at a former Union Minister of State and two ex-Chief Ministers for their alleged indifference towards sports.

Pargat said when he was the Director of the Sports Department, Union Minister of State Suresh Kalmadi had dumped all his plans to promote sports. Whereas later, Parkash Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh had a negative attitude towards the development of sports while serving as the Chief Ministers. “All dreams that I cherished to attract the youth towards sports were ruined,” he said.

The minister, who landed near a meeting place by helicopter, talked to B.Ed and TET-pass unemployed youths on the roadside for 15 minutes before entering the pandal, but still many of them sneaked into the pandal and tried to disrupt the meeting. ETT teachers continued raising slogans against the government by holding a separate sit-in on Abohar-Seetogunno Road, a little away from the site.

Referring to the political environment of Punjab, Pargat said the Badal family had been a compulsive supporter of the BJP and Captain too had internal ties with the BJP, which has now become public.

“Badals and the Captain family has always been protecting each other’s interests. Due to their inefficiency, teachers have not been recruited in government colleges for 25 years. The thinking of the present government can be gauged from the fact that Abohar sub-division has got two government colleges and funds for the construction work have already been released,” he said.