KARACHI: Punjab Olympic Association (PbOA) has informed the federal government that it could organise the 2nd Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Provincial Games with only Rs30 million. The government has allocated a whopping amount of Rs169 million.
In a letter, the third from the PbOA, addressed to the federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Riaz Pirzada, the PbOA wrote: “We had offered to organise Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Provincial Games on your behalf in good faith and in national interest. We once again offer to organise these Games in a successful manner within a sum of Rs30m only.
“As compared to the estimates of your department, this will mean a saving of Rs140m without compromising on the quality or standard of Games. The Games will be organised by the PbOA under the banner of your relevant departments. All branding and publicity will focus on the role of the federal government and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for the promotion and development of sports in the country,” the letter added.
“Our armed forces are our pride and they come to the rescue of the nation whenever called for help. However the civilian organisations must develop capacity and expertise to organise such mega events independently. I can assure you that PbOA developed adequate expertise over the years to organise such mega events by successfully organizing National and Inter-Provincial Games,” the letter said.
“We do agree that PSB is a specialised department. However, we do believe that the grant giving agency should not be the one spending that grant as well. Without any prejudice about the competence of the PSB or other agencies relevant to the organisation of the Games we hope that our well-intentioned offer will receive a dispassionate consideration,” the letter added.
PbOA secretary Idrees Khwaja told ‘The News’ on Wednesday that Punjab had organised the previous National Games in Lahore with just Rs13.5 million.
“There was nothing low as far as standard was concerned. We also gave daily allowances to the players. We have told the minister that if we organise the Inter-Provincial Games with Rs30 million the amount saved should be spent on the construction of an international standard velodrome in the Punjab capital,” Idress said.
The Games are to be held in Islamabad later this month.
He revealed that there was no need to spend such a large amount on the competitions.
He also lashed out at the Punjab government, asking why it was spending billions of rupees on youth festivals which did not yield any result.
Idrees also disclosed that Punjab government had not been giving annual grant to 38 associations of the province for the last seven years. “I ask the Punjab government why Punjab Games have not been organised for the last seven years,” Idrees said.
