<p>If everything goes to plan, Karnataka should have its sports policy by the end of this month which should bring cheer to budding athletes, especially the ones from mofussil centres.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Sports Minister Appachu Ranjan had announced last year that a sports police would be announced soon and the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) is in the process of fine-tuning it, it was announced on Thursday.<br /><br />“We’ve been working on the Sports Policy for a while now and I’m happy that it is about to reach fruition,” said Sports Minister Appachu Ranjan at a press conference here on Thursday. <br /><br />The department had formed two committees -- Working and Drafting -- to study the practices followed worldwide and suggest policies that could push forward sport in the State. <br /><br />The committee members will also travel to all the districts in the State in various groups from February 6-8 to seek suggestions from local sporting authorities and athletes.<br /><br />The committees will then submit its recommendations to the department which will then unveil the ambitious policy on February 28. The committees comprise some of the top sportspersons from the State, including former India hockey captains MP Ganesh and Jude Felix, athlete Ashwini Nachappa and veteran cue sports coach Arvind Savur among others. Karnataka Olympic Association president K Govindraj, KOA secretary K Anantharaju and DYSS director Baldev Krishna will also be part of the committee.<br /><br />“We’ve included former athletes as well some good administrators from the State. We’ve sought the approval of the cabinet to draft the policy, which is mandatory.”<br /><br />The minister also said one of the key things that will be part of the forthcoming policy is publication of an annual sports calendar. Ranjan also said the DYSS had asked for an increased quota in the annual budget. <br />“We’ve asked the government to allocate one per cent of the total budget for sports which amounts to Rs 1,000 crore. That will be somewhat, so we’ve requested to at least provide is Rs 500 crores because our estimation for the forthcoming year is around Rs 513 crore.”</p>
<p>If everything goes to plan, Karnataka should have its sports policy by the end of this month which should bring cheer to budding athletes, especially the ones from mofussil centres.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Sports Minister Appachu Ranjan had announced last year that a sports police would be announced soon and the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) is in the process of fine-tuning it, it was announced on Thursday.<br /><br />“We’ve been working on the Sports Policy for a while now and I’m happy that it is about to reach fruition,” said Sports Minister Appachu Ranjan at a press conference here on Thursday. <br /><br />The department had formed two committees -- Working and Drafting -- to study the practices followed worldwide and suggest policies that could push forward sport in the State. <br /><br />The committee members will also travel to all the districts in the State in various groups from February 6-8 to seek suggestions from local sporting authorities and athletes.<br /><br />The committees will then submit its recommendations to the department which will then unveil the ambitious policy on February 28. The committees comprise some of the top sportspersons from the State, including former India hockey captains MP Ganesh and Jude Felix, athlete Ashwini Nachappa and veteran cue sports coach Arvind Savur among others. Karnataka Olympic Association president K Govindraj, KOA secretary K Anantharaju and DYSS director Baldev Krishna will also be part of the committee.<br /><br />“We’ve included former athletes as well some good administrators from the State. We’ve sought the approval of the cabinet to draft the policy, which is mandatory.”<br /><br />The minister also said one of the key things that will be part of the forthcoming policy is publication of an annual sports calendar. Ranjan also said the DYSS had asked for an increased quota in the annual budget. <br />“We’ve asked the government to allocate one per cent of the total budget for sports which amounts to Rs 1,000 crore. That will be somewhat, so we’ve requested to at least provide is Rs 500 crores because our estimation for the forthcoming year is around Rs 513 crore.”</p>
