Increased allocation for sports in Kerala budget

The budget allocation for sports has been enhanced in the State budget presented by Kerala Finance Minister B. Balagopal here on Thursday.

The State Government has earmarked nearly ₹240 crore for sports and infrastructure development in the State. The plan allocation for Sports and Youth affairs has been pegged at ₹ 220.86 crore which saw an increase of 51.90% from last year.

An amount of ₹45.50 crore has been earmarked for various activities of Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC) and ₹30.50 crore has been allotted for construction of new sports facilities and for the upkeep of the existing ones in the State.

The ‘one panchayat one playground’ scheme gets an additional share of ₹28 crore in the budget. Two crore has been earmarked for conducting the College sports league. An amount of ₹6.90 crore has been sanctioned for leveraging sports science and technology.

The G.V.Raja Sports School and Kannur Sports Division has been granted ₹17 crore for their development. The Government Boys HSS, Kunnamkulam will be converted into a fully residential sports school and centre of excellence and ₹7.50 crore has been allotted for this. An amount of ₹17 crore has been earmarked for operational expenses of sports academies in districts, colleges and schools. The KSSC in cooperation with local self government institutions will chalk out schemes to promote sports culture at the grassroots level and ₹12 crore has been allotted for implementing this.

The sports facilities at Brennen College will be upgraded and ₹2 crore has been allotted for starting the preliminary work. An Integrated Sports Hub will come up in Kannur and ₹10 crore has been earmarked for this. An amount of ₹15 crore has been allotted for Sports Development Fund while ₹ Rs 7.5 crore for implementing the Healthy Kids-play for Health programme at primary school level.

The government has allotted ₹8 crore for the development of Devikulam adventure academy. The Directorate of General Education will receive ₹12 crore for developing a sports culture among school students in the State. An amount of ₹6.5 crore has been allotted for conducting Keralostavam under Kerala State Youth Welfare Board. The government has launched a new scheme to promote sports programmes for differently abled and an amount of one crore has been sanctioned for conducting competitions for them.