The YSR Congress government in Andhra Pradesh will be spending about ₹100 crore on thousands of mandal-level sports matches, mostly friendly, and will be giving cash prizes worth over ₹10 crore according to a top official in the government.
The novel public programme, as part of one of the poll strategies, is reportedly designed by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and its strategic advisory body, the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), to connect to the vote bank ahead of the poll year.
For the record, the YSRCP government is riding high on its welfare agenda and has nine schemes, christened as Navaratnalu, through which direct benefit transfer (DBT) is facilitated to farmers, women, students, and other needy sections of the society.
The friendly matches will be conducted throughout the State in Cricket, Badminton, and two other sports and the objective is to encourage and attract like-minded people from all walks of life. A top government official involved in the project says that the entire plan of what and how it needs to be done is already in place and the government is in advanced stages of zeroing in on the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for kits etc.
“There will be several thousands of matches across the State. The government is roping in media agencies, OEMs, coaches etc for the publicity, sports kits, sponsorship and other related activity,” the official said.
“These matches are not like regular professional ones but aimed at encouraging even the casual players interested in sports. We will also engage coaches to provide minimum training to people on the sports activity. The beauty of it is that there is no upper age limit to take part in the sports competitions. Anyone above 18 years can take part,” he added.
It was learned that the government is already in talks with a bunch of coaches within and outside the State and is exploring manufacturers and suppliers of sports kits in Ludhiana and other places in the north.
The plan is up and running and it’s just a matter of announcement and execution, says an associate from IPAC. “It’s actually delayed due to intense summer heat and other programmes. The announcement is most likely in a week or two,” said the associate.
In fact, the YSRCP-IPAC strategic plan has several such programmes lined up. The State-wide sports activity will be followed by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s week-long visits and night stays across the State, to cover a couple of constituencies at a go in the near future. “The CM will be mostly seen taking part in public meets and interactions,” said the source.
