ISLAMABAD, Feb 23 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Tuesday said the decline of sports in our national set up had contributed towards the rise in terrorism in the country.
If the youth of the country are provided with motivation, facilities and opportunity to harness their energy into positive activities like sports, the extremists would have a hard time in finding youth that can be misled, he added.Gilani was addressing the first ever joint meeting of the national sports bodies and national sports heroes held at the Prime Minister Secretariat on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister said at the national level, sports create integration, discipline and a sense of brotherhood and comradeships.
Sports, he added, create awareness, bring cultures together and create bridges even in the case of traditional rivals.
In the context of encouraging sports, the Prime Minister said as in other countries, private corporate sector funding needs to be encouraged.
He observed that there are scores of oil and gas companies, banks, cellular companies, beverages and major tea brands which are engaged in patronizing bigger sports like cricket and hockey also need to focus on individual sportsmen by providing them scholarships and employments.
The major public sector corporations and the nationalized banks, he emphasized, must again patronize sports in a big way as they used to do in the past.
Similarly the private sector oil and gas exploration companies in Pakistan, he said can be approached for their patronage in terms of their Corporate Social Responsibility. In turn the government would facilitate them and consider giving them certain concessions, he added.
The Prime Minister said the government is contemplating to ask the foreign donors to include in their education projects “Sports Education” as a component.
The government, he said, has various initiatives in the field of education for North West Frontier Province, FATA, Balochistan, Interior Sindh and Southern Punjab. All these initiatives, he added,
should have a sports component as part of strategy to fight terrorism as envisioned in the concept of “From the Battle Field to the Sports Field”
The Prime Minister said he would direct the concerned authorities to include sports education as part of the development package for under developed and militancy affected areas.
In his concluding remarks, the Prime Minister said that Promotion of Sports is yet another campaign which would be undertaken to occupy and channelize the energies of our youth towards healthy activities.
He announced constitution of a National Sports Development Committee to be headed by the Federal Minister for Sports with Minister for Education, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination and Provincial Sports Ministers as members.
The Committee has been tasked to develop a National Policy for Sports promotion in consultation with all the stakeholders including national sports heroes and submit the policy with recommendations within two months for consideration of the Cabinet.
The Prime Minister also announced to double the budget allocations of the Ministry of Sports specifically for the promotion of various sports through established federations.
He also announced creation of sports scholarships in all the leading schools, colleges, and universities to encourage students to participate in sports.
The participants of the meeting appreciated the unprecedented initiative of the Prime Minister for holding such a high level meeting to promote sports and games in the country.
They also suggested that the federal and provincial ministers of Education and Information be involved in promoting sports activities at school, colleges and universities level.
In the same context, they stressed for reintroduction of sports quota for admission of students in the educational institutions.
The provincial ministers insisted that the sports development schemes included in the Public Sector Development Plan should not be shifted to next financial years as it leads to cost escalation and harms adversely the interests of sports.
They also complained that some sports complexes, hostels, play grounds have been occupied by law enforcing agencies and local administration to organize weekly bazaars etc.
It was also suggested that every new housing scheme should clearly earmark land for sports activity. It was further suggested in the meeting that one to two hours be fixed for sports activities in the schools.
It was stressed as well that the corporate sector be persuaded to spend one percent out of the five percent compulsory contributions of the Corporate Social Responsibility fund.
Earlier, the Secretary for Sports briefed the gathering on allocation for various sports activities, the history of Pakistan’s achievements in international events and the problems to achieve the requisite standards. He also apprised the meeting of the short and long term objectives to promote sports in the country.
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