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Sports board announces free treatment for players

By Our Correspondent
December 05, 2022

LAHORE:Punjab Youth Affairs Department has announced free treatment for players in Punjab’s first ever Sports Medicine Clinic. The announcement was made in a general body meeting of Sports Board Punjab (SBP) at National Hockey Stadium.

Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Chairman SBP Malik Taimoor Masood presided over the meeting where DG Sports Punjab Tariq Qureshi and Director Admin Syed Umair Hassan gave a briefing on the performance of Sports Board Punjab, sports development schemes and other key features.

It was told in the meeting that top three hospitals such as Ghurki Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and Hameed Latif will be on the panel where all male and female players will get top standard treatment under the supervision of expert medical officers. After the establishment of Sports Medicine Clinic, players will not have to go abroad for treatment.

The meeting was attended by Vice-Chairman SBP Malik Nadeem Abbas Bara, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Ehsan Bhutta, Additional Secretary Malik Sanaullah, Director Admin Syed Umair Hassan, International Tennis Star Aisamul Haque, Former International Hockey Player Rana Zaheer, Vice Chancellor GC University Dr Asghar Zaidi, Secretary Pakistan Wrestling Federation Arshad Sattar, Secretary Punjab Olympic Association Idris Haider Khawaja, DGP PITB Sajid Latif, DIG Police Ghazi M Salahuddin, Film Star Shan Shahid, Deputy Secretary Higher Education Khurram Bashir, SSGC Zaheer Ahmed, Section Officer of Finance Department Shehzad Ali, Head of Sports Kinnaird College University Amara Rubab, Assistant Director Zahoor Ahmed and others.

Various sports matters and projects were approved during the meeting. The board has approved giving monthly stipend to 200 players who have performed best at the provincial level. Every top performer will be given a monthly stipend of Rs 15,000. It was also approved to give cash prizes to the players who have performed prominently at the international level.

The board has approved the increase of the allowance of players and officials from Rs 800 to 1,200 upto Rs 1,500 for the first time in history. The accommodation allowance of players and officials has also been increased to Rs 2,000.

The naming of all top sports venues after the name of top sports stars has also been approved and in this regard a committee will be formed. The recruitments at Sports Board Punjab’s vacant posts have also been approved while the establishing of finance, HR committees and marketing agency of Sports Board Punjab have also been sanctioned.

Apart from this, the membership fee of Punjab International Swimming Complex has also been doubled while a proposal to launch sports TV channel of Sports Board Punjab has also been floated in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Minister for Youth Affairs Malik Taimoor Masood has said ‘we are bringing a lot of reforms in sports sector to promote sports culture in true sense and provide best sports facilities to players as well,’

He said the Sports Board Punjab has revived several projects that were stopped for many years. “An annual grant of Rs 3 crore 8 lakh has been issued to 40 sports associations of Punjab so that sports associations can play their role in promoting sports and bringing forward new talent”.

He said we also restored the Punjab Games which were being held for ninety years in the past. “Many new players have been traced in the 73rd Punjab Games. Active steps are being taken for the promotion of sports in Punjab, the results of which will emerge in near future”.

Vice Chairman SSBP Malik Nadeem Abbas in his address said that the dream of development in sports cannot be fulfilled without the provision of facilities and the encouragement of players. “By getting scholarships, the game of players will improve to a great extent and they will make Pakistan famous in the world,” he added.

Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Ehsan Bhutta has said that the work is going on rapidly to modernize the sports infrastructure. “Modern sports facilities have been built at the divisional headquarters and work is going on more such project. Over 500 modern sports facilities are available to players across Punjab”.

DG Sports Punjab Tariq Qureshi in his address said that a talent hunt programme has been started in educational institutions. “There are three crore students are studying in educational institutions of Punjab. We will find 10 lakh new players from schools and colleges and they will be further trained and groomed in Sports Board Punjab academies to prepare them for national and international competitions,” he added.