Vijayawada: The Finance department has been sitting on a proposal to recruit over 100 coaches through the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh.
Due to this delay, the dream of getting the state athletes ready for the 2017 National Games, scheduled to be held in Chhattisgarh, seems distant.
While allocating Rs 200 crore for the purpose in the budget, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had envisioned the setting up of new sports academies, creating infrastructure, and supporting players. Sports minister K. Atchannaidu had said in March during the Assembly session that the state government would enhance budgetary allocation for developing sports infrastructure in all the districts, and would appoint coaches. He said nearly Rs 1,000 crore would be given to various districts for the purpose.
In fact, equipment worth Rs 500 crore was lying with the Sports Authority of neighbouring Telangana State, of which Andhra Pradesh’s share was close to Rs 250 crore.
Now, the SAAP has 77 coaches working across the 13 districts. Out of them, only 13 members are regular coaches and the remaining are working on contract basis.
