PM ACCEPTS FIVE
FOLD INCREASE IN PLAN ALLOCATION FOR SPORTS
The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has called upon the newly formed All
India Council of Sports to work out an effective National Action
Plan for achieving excellence in sports within the next 100 days.
The Prime Minister accepted the Council’s proposal for a five-fold
increase in the allocation for sports in the 10th Five
Year Plan and assured to place it before the next meeting of the
National Development Council (NDC) for formal approval, while
addressing the inaugural meeting of the Council held at his residence,
here today.
Shri Vajpayee emphasised
that continuity and continuous efforts in the field of sports
are a must. He underlined the fact that money is not the main
constraint in the promotion of sports and said that all the concerned
agencies should work properly in a planned manner. There is also
a need for greater and better co-operation between the Centre
and the States in this regard, he added. Shri Vajpayee congratulated
the medal winners and the various sports federations for their
successful performance at the recent Commonwealth Games and the
Asian Games. The Prime Minister said that the need of the hour
is to plan for the future, especially for the coming Olympic Games.
Shri Vijay Kumar
Malhotra, president of All India Council of Sports, Shri Vikram
Verma, Union Minister of Sports, Shri K.C. Pant, Dy. Chairman,
Planning Commission, MoS in Prime Minister’s Office, Shri Vijay
Goel, Shri Suresh Kalmadi and Shri V.C. Shukla also spoke at the
meeting. Prominent sportspersons such as Shri P.K. Bannerjee,
Smt. P.T. Usha, Shri P. Gopichand, Shri Jaspal Rana, Shri Vishwanathan
Anand and Ms. Karnam Malleshwari were among the other members
of the Council who attended the meeting.
