KHAMMAM: Owning to lack of proper sports infrastructure and funds, many students in erstwhile Khammam district are unable to develop and showcase their talent at high school level.
According to the official sources, about 57,638 students have enrolled in 354 high schools in the district. Though the State government has announced two percent sports quota in jobs, it has failed to provide the necessary funds to encourage to the students to take to sports.
As per the available statistics, the State government has been releasing 1,000 for mandal level sports meet and 2,000 for zonal level meets every year for high schools while 3,000 is being allotted to each high school to buy sports kit on an annual basis.
This lack of facilities has led to many students, who are interested in sports, questioning the government for not releasing funds for sports development in the district.For instance, K. Raghava, a class 7 student of Kothagudem town, said: “I am not able to improve my skills as there is no facility for volleyball in our school. When we ask the headmaster, he says there are no funds for purchasing the sports equipment.”
To make matters worse, some schools don’t even have playgrounds. “Most of the high schools don’t have enough playgrounds. Due to lack of sports equipment and grounds students are unable to perform well in district and state level meets,” said A. Venkateswarlu, who is working as a physical director in a local school.
“We have been asking officials to allot special funds for sports development and provide equipment but there is no response from the government,” he said.