Abodh Sharma
JAMMU, Dec 27: Successive State Governments have deprived beleaguered Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council, the Apex sports body of the State of its representative character and posted officers with chequered service records to head this representative body committing 'gang rape' of its Constitution.
Last seven Secretaries of the State Sports Council have been Government officers, but idea of elevating Sports Council into a full fledge Sports Department has never crossed the minds of the Sports Ministers who were the vice presidents of the Council from time to time. Interestingly, sports fraternity is abuzz with the likelihood of the a senior Police officer of the State taking over the reins of the Council soon replacing Dilip Thussu, a noted engineer of the State who was posted as the Secretary just a few months back.
Manoj Pant, an officer of the Indian forest services, reportedly got himself posted as secretary for his interest in sports, PS Gill, Additional Director General of Police, who later went on to become DG Punjab Police, but had annoyed the Government of the day during his posting as the Transport Commissioner, SA Leherwal, a little known former Director of the State Motor Garages, JP Singh, the Director Youth Services and Sports who was asked to officiate for some time as Secretary after the present Council was nominated, Kiran Wattal, a tainted engineer, who enjoys patronage of a senior Minister in Omar's Cabinet and manages lucrative postings despite being indicted seriously in cases of corruption in the past and the incumbent Dilip Thussu, who was also named in several cases of misappropriation during his postings as MD JKPCCC and J&K Housing Board, are the Government officers who have headed the Council in last few years. Their competence and experience in the field of sports and their shady service records are indicative of seriousness and priority that the Government attaches to the sports.
The Government officers who have been posted as Secretaries of the Council from time to time have failed to do justice to the already ailing sports of the State because they saw it as a punitive posting and used their brief tenures to find a way out, but even those who were elected to the top job have done little to improve the cause of sports and sportsmen in the State. Severely dilapidated infrastructure, demoralized sportsmen and coaches and total lack of policy and planning speak volumes about absence of political initiative and thought towards sports in the State. |
