Fate of aspirants in jeopardy
*Govt creates infra but fails to provide experts
Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, May 20: The Government of Jammu and Kashmir is leaving no stone unturned in creating sufficient sports infrastructure in every nook and corner of the Union Territory and is showing commitment in promoting sports and sportspersons, but at the same time, it has so far failed to utilize the services of experts (outstanding sportspersons) and absorb NIS trained coaches in its existing sports centres.
According to reliable sources, Jammu division has 18 prominent sports centres, with six of them at Jammu headquarter only, but has just 14 coaches to look after these centres with 10 of them at the headquarter.
“We have 18 stadia or you may call them sports facilities in Jammu division. These include sports stadiums in Kathua, Hiranagar, Gurah Slathia, Smailpur, Samba, RS Pura, Udhampur, Reasi, Doda, Rajouri and Poonch, besides seven sports facilities at headquarter including MA Stadium, KK Hakhu Astroturf Hockey Stadium, Parade Ground, Dussehra Ground, Shastri Nagar Ground, Greenfield Gandhi Nagar and a playfield at Akhnoor. However, the coaches are posted just in 4 centres at Jammu headquarter, besides Kathua, Udhampur and Poonch,” said a senior employee of J&K Sports Council on the condition of anonymity.
He said the fate of the aspirants of the Jammu division, who were interviewed by the J&K State Sports Council way back in 2017, for the appointment to different posts including junior coaches is in jeopardy as the Council because of vested interests is least interested in accommodating experts to produce good stuff.
Pertinently, the J&K State Sports Council had issued a notification in August 2016 regarding interviews of candidates for various posts including 48 posts of junior coaches. The interviews were to be held in November 2016, but were delayed.
Later, the interviews for the candidates of different districts of the Jammu division were held at Youth Hostel, Nagrota, from January 16 to 30, 2017, while interviews for the candidates of the Kashmir division and the Leh-Ladakh region were held from February 14 to March 14, 2017.
Talking to EXCELSIOR, a group of candidates, who had appeared for the interviews for the posts of junior coaches in 2017, expressed resentment over the ‘callous attitude’ of the Sports Council in redressing their long pending issues.
They said, “As far as the 48 posts of junior coach were concerned, only 17 candidates having one-year diploma from the prestigious National Institute of Sports (NIS) had appeared for the interview because there were no other eligible candidates. Of the 17 interviewed candidates, 15 were from the Jammu division and two were from Kashmir.
“We are at a loss to understand as to why there is so much delay in our appointments when there is big number of vacant posts in Council,” aspirants said.
The further said the J&K Sports Council was yet to initiate a major recruitment drive for the appointment of coaches on a permanent basis.
Sources claimed that the first major recruitment by the Sports Council was held in 1998 when more than 20 qualified coaches were recruited.
“There has been no appointment of new coaches on a permanent basis. Even the posts which fell vacant after some coaches retired have not been filled for a long time. There are many sports training centres without coaches in Jammu province,” aspirants claimed.
They further said, “After a massive recruitment drive of coaches in 1998, the recruitment of coaches on a permanent basis was done by the autonomous sports body on a small scale in 2005 and 2013. Since then, no permanent coaches have been appointed”.
“The Sports Council was making appointments of coaches and other staff in presence of all powerful Standing Committee which is not existing in the present Council. So, thinking of appointments in the ongoing scenario is simply meaningless. The Sports Council needs to be re-constituted and the Standing Committee reframed. Otherwise, it will continue to serve as a stumbling-block for outstanding sportspersons and professional coaches,” said a SAI coach while expressing anonymity.
He said establishing sports facilities, without appointment of coaches and trainers to run them properly, is like flogging a dead horse, adding that there is a dire need to recruit professionals in making J&K a sporting hub.
“The Govt of J&K, which is striving hard to carve a space on the national sports map, needs to accommodate good number of professionals to succeed in that endeavour,” he claimed.
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