CHANDIGARH, Feb 22: To gain prominence in the field of sports, particularly in the Punjab University Inter-College meets, the private colleges in the city are pumping in a lot of money, which has led to a substantial increase in the annual sports budget.In some cases, there is nearly 100 per cent increase in the budget. But there is no co-relation between the increase in money and performance of the concerned colleges in the PU meets. In fact, it has come down. Take the case of DAV College-10, which has an unprecedented record of more than 20 consecutive wins of overall titles in the PU meets. In the '96-97 edition, DAVC-10 won the overall title with 485 points. But in the '97-98 edition it secured top slot with 317.5 points, a potent decline.Though the concerned college authorities claim that a major chunk of the budget is spend on equipment, it is no secret that some money is also used to `buy' the best player in the market.AC Vaid, principal of SD College-32, explains it this way: ``One has to bargain to be in the race. Throw in money and get the best lot.'' The principal knows the value of bargain. Last year the college couldn't bow down to the demands of players, hence they were lured by the other.``This year we had to spend from other resources (read budget) on sports to maintain the teams and win the titles,'' he adds. The SD College annual budget on sports in the '97-98 edition was over Rs One-and-half Lakh as compared to over eighty thousand in the '93-94 session.There has been steep rise in the budget of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College-26. In 1993-94 the college had Rs 74,000 and it was Rs 1.47 lakh in 1997-98.The college authorities claim that increased financial assistance has given them five titles in the PU meets as compared to one victory the previous year. However, the college could not maintain their hockey team, and majority of SGGS players took admission in SD College, this year. SD College went on to win the title in the PU Inter-College meet. Recently, SGGS-26 converted their basketball court to a parking lot in the college premises for reasons best known to them.``Sixty-five per cent of the budget is spend on equipment like buying cricket equipment which includes bats and balls while the remaining percentage is on travel and daily allowance and refreshment of the players,'' disclosed Satish Gandhi, head of the physical department, DAVC-10.There has also been a rise in the sports budget of the MCM DAV College-36, which leads the field in the women's section. The college had allocated Rs 90,000 for sports in the '93-94 edition. But in '98-99 it was Rs 1,30,000.However, the college is yet to give sports kit to its players. ``After the match we (players) return the college kit to the department (sports),'' informed one of the college team hockey player. However, this year there was some resentment from the players side, which the college denied and it was decided to give the T-shirts to the sportswomen . ``From this year we (college) have decided to give kit to the players,'' said Sneh Majahan, principal, MCM DAV College.
