Budget 2017-18: K-P earmarks Rs200m to build hockey fields

Three tracks for athletics to be set up in Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu

PESHAWAR: Despite being the national game of the country, hockey has suffered from all the attention and passion which cricket garners. However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government has allocated funds to set up hockey grounds across the province in the upcoming budget.

The provincial government in its proposed Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the upcoming fiscal year 2017-18 has allocated over Rs1 billion for the sports, archaeology, culture and youth affairs department.

The government has allocated over Rs170 billion for the provincial ADP, of which more than Rs60 billion is expected to be provided by foreign governments and financial institutions.

As per the ADP documents, the total outlay of development budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 has been estimated to be over Rs603 billion, up from Rs505 billion last year.

The ADP, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, stated that Rs200 million have been earmarked for setting up hockey turfs in Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, Kohat and Charsadda districts.

The document states that Rs100 million would be released for this purpose in the upcoming fiscal year while the remaining Rs100 million will be released in the subsequent budgets.

Similarly, for the promotion of athletics and traditional games, the government has allocated Rs110 million. The money would be used for establishing three tracks for athletics in Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts.

Meanwhile, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune that traditional games such as archery, tent pegging, high jump, boxing and athletics will be promoted in the province with funds allocated for the purpose.

Sources further said that the provincial government were likely to present its budget in the first week of June.

“Like last year, the government has again allocated 30 per cent of the total provincial ADP as the development budget of the district governments in the province,” the sources said.

Furthermore, the government has also earmarked Rs350 million for upgrading the football field at Peshawar’s Qayum Stadium. For this purpose, Rs50 million would be released in the upcoming fiscal year while the rest will be released in subsequent budgets.

For culture, sources said the government has proposed a slew of projects in the upcoming year, including Rs30,000 as an honorarium for deserving poets of the province. The project will be started again in July after a re-assessment.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2017.