Tennis courts at govt schools in a shambles in Chandigarh

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 23

At a time when private associations are submitting representations for taking over government school grounds, the already allotted facilities are in a shambles.

In 2013, the UT Education Department had signed an MoU with the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) to train students of Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 23; GMSSS-16; GMSSS-33 and Government Model High School, Sector 41.

However in 2019, the department took back these grounds, citing non-compliance. Since then, these fields have been totally neglected.

“Government schools have everything with them. The only thing they lack is the vision…how to use the infrastructure. The Administration keeps on experimenting and keeps wasting public money. This practice should stop,” said a coach.

“The indoor sports complexes are no different. Chandigarh has over 10 sports complexes of similar size with similar facilities. The Administration should understand that their duty is to provide facilities to all and not only a selected few,” he said.

“Many private sports associations are capable of running the show, but they still take government’s help. There’s no harm in that, but they should be answerable. Who is responsible for poor condition of these tennis grounds?” the coach asked.

These courts have been in such a neglected state that no major national/state championships could be held there. Even schoolchildren were not allowed to use the courts due to non-availability of coaches.

The Education Department had planned to hand these courts to the UT Sports Department, but the latter is already overburdened with the maintenance of coaching complexes.

“The government should run the show instead of looking for options. Having raised the infrastructure, it’s their duty to look after it. They should appoint coaches, train young kids and produce players for the nation. Despite having so many grounds – there are over 120 government schools in Chandigarh – we failed to provide a sports-friendly environment in these institutions,” said a physical training instructor of a government school.

Pact with CLTA

In 2013, the UT Education Department had signed an MoU with the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association to train students of GMSSS-23; GMSSS-16; GMSSS-33 and Government Model High School, Sector 41. However in 2019, the Education Department took back these grounds, citing non-compliance.