The Hindu : Sport : PYKKA gets Cabinet approval

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Tuesday, Mar 11, 2008
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Sport - Sports : General

PYKKA gets Cabinet approval

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The ambitious Panchayat Yuva Krida Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) has received the Union Cabinet’s approval.

To be launched on April 1, the PYKKA, vigorously pursued by the Union Sports Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, during the past few months, envisages the setting up of an elementary sports facility in each panchayat in the country to provide opportunities for the youth to engage themselves in sporting and physical fitness activities.

Competitions

To back up the effort, competitions in various sports would be organised at different levels culminating in a National final. The meets would be conducted in collaboration with the National Sports Federations (NSFs) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Aiyar said that the Planning Commission had already made a provisional allocation of Rs 1,500 crore for the project in the 11th Plan period out of which a sum of Rs. 125 crore had been allocated in the latest budget. The Sports Ministry had sought an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore for a 10-year period for the project.

Joint effort

The PYKKA would be a joint effort between the Centre and the States and the funding would be on a 75-25 basis, with the Centre contributing the larger share. For the North-East the sharing would be on a 90-10 basis. The funds would be routed through the State Governments.

Depending on the size of the panchayat, there could be more than one facility, Mr. Aiyar said. He added that a State like Tamil Nadu had been engaged in a similar project for some time now.

Each village panchayat and each block panchayat would be given Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh respectively as one-time seed capital grant for developing playgrounds. They would also be given additional funds as operational grant.

Each block panchayat would be provided an annual competition grant of Rs. 50,000 for holding block-level competitions and Rs. 3 lakh for District-level competitions. Prize money for block level and district-level competitions would also be given.

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