Jana Sena Party (JSP) official spokesman Sundarapu Vijay Kumar has alleged that the only objective of the ‘Adudam Andhra’ programme of the YSR Congress government is to strike a rapport with people in the rural and urban areas before the general elections, after neglecting sports for more than four years.
Addressing a media conference in Visakhapatnam on October 12, Mr. Vijay Kumar said that while the State government had announced ₹42 crore would be spent on purchase of sports equipment, there were no grounds for the promotion of sports. This was because the grounds and indoor stadiums were leased to private parties by the government, as part of monetisation of assets.
Wondering whether Minister for Tourism and Sport R. K. Roja was aware of these issues, he alleged that Ms. Roja instead of concentrating on promotion of sports and tourism was devoting all her time to foist cases on Opposition leaders. The summer sports camps, which used to be conducted every year, were stopped on the plea of COVID-19 but they were revived only this year.
The JSP leader alleged that there were no grounds in rural areas as they were leased even in the rural areas. He alleged that ₹35, a month, was being collected from students for sports. Wondering how the all round growth of children could be ensured without sports, he challenged the Sports Minister for a debate on the issue. He said that sports persons were bagging medals for India as organisations such as Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) of the Jindal South West (JSW) were promoting sports in a big way. He sought to know the contribution Andhra Pradesh to sports.
