No funds crunch for sports: Ponnala

Warangal,Nov 17: Both the Centre and the State have accorded top priority to conducting national and international sports events even at the time of global economic meltdown,stated Minister for Major Irrigation Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the silver jubilee edition of the junior National athletics championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Hanamkonda,the Minister reiterated that there was no shortage of funds for promoting sports. The United Progressive Alliance government led by Dr Manmohan Singh has allocated Rs 3,075 crore to conduct the sports events in the entire country.He said this is for the first time that Warangal,known for its famed Thousand Pillar Temple, which dates back to the medieval era and is synonymous with the Kakatiya kings, is staging a spectacle of this magnitude.

“The State Government has chalked out many programmes for the development of sports and rewarded sportspersons who brought laurels to the State,” he said.In order to promote aptitude for sports and culture among the rural people, the government has established the Khel Ratna award,he added. About 1,700 athletes from the 27 states will participate in the championships.