GANDHINAGAR: Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ) of India in its latest report criticised the Gujarat government for showing lack of sportsman spirit and lacking goal-oriented approach for the development of sports in state.CAG noted, “State government established Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) in 1993 to promote sports activities but the State Sports Policy was declared only in March 2016. Even after lapse of one year since the declaration of Sports Policy, neither the commissioner nor the SAG had made any planning for achieving the goals envisaged in the policy."“Out of 33 districts in Gujarat, SAG could provide only 20 sports complexes in 17 districts. The established sports complexes lacked infrastructural facilities for major sports disciplines which resulted in inadequate coaching facilities to sports persons. Out of 10 sports hostels in the state, there was no occupancy in four hostels during 2012-17. In test-checked districts, the infrastructure in the sports complexes were not being utilised due to poor maintenance."“Khel Mahakumbh is an important programme for identifying sports talents. The objective of grooming its winners for participation in higher level competitions was not achieved as SAG and senior coaches of test-checked districts did not ensure imparting further coaching to the winners. Further, there were vacancies in the posts of Coaches. The performance of Swarnim Gujarat Sports University (SGSU) in attracting the aspiring sports persons for taking up sports education was found sub-optimal as it failed in arranging campus interviews for placement of students. It could provide placement to only 41 students out of 819 students enrolled during 2013-17. The above deficiencies indicated that the strategies adopted leave room for improvement in achievement of objectives enshrined in the State Sports Policy," the CAG noted.

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