The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : SAAP ‘punctures’ cycling association plea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 22, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

SAAP ‘punctures’ cycling association plea

V. V. Subrahmanyam

Asks APCA to pay Rs. 1.27 lakh to host a national meet at OU velodrome

APCA lacks adequate sponsorship to host event
We are simply implementing the order: SAAP

HYDERABAD: Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh has pulled off another shocker on the organisers of sporting events. This time, it is the AP Cycling Association which is effectively punctured. Reason? On the request of the APCA to allot the Osmania University cycling velodrome to host the 61st Track National Cycling Championship (December 3 to 8), SAAP slapped on it an order (dated 21.11.2007) making it mandatory to pay a minimum of Rs.1,27,500 towards allotment and accommodation charges for the meet.

The communication has stunned the APCA officials who are already feeling the pinch for not getting adequate sponsorships to host the event.

Deduction

Worse, this order also means that SAAP will be entitled to deduct straightaway the same amount from the grant of Rs. 3 lakh it will give to the APCA like it gives to any other association hosting a national event. “This has come as a shocker for us. How can we organise a national event when the State Government itself charges for the infrastructure it provides to us,” says a senior official of the APCA. Ironically, the SAAP order says that the maintenance charges for the velodrome are Rs. 60,000 for six days and Rs. 67,500 as overhead charges for the 150 members.

This shocker almost follows a similar directive to the Hyderabad District School Games Federation (November 7, 2007) asking it to pay Rs. 54,000 for hiring the Lal Bahadur Stadium facilities for organising the district sports meet.

‘Unfortunate’

APOA secretary L. Venkatram Reddy says this is very unfortunate. “It is the moral obligation of the Government to provide infrastructure to host any national and State-level events. Such orders contradict the very objectives of making the State into a Kreedandhra Pradesh,” he says. “We are going to take up these issues with the SAAP top brass. If this continues, it almost impossible for associations to host any national meets,” he points out.

Senior SAAP officials insist that they were merely implementing the 2006 order in letter and spirit. “We have to go by what the existing Pay and Play Scheme order says and we cannot deviate from it,” they say.

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