BHUBANESWAR 11-Aug-2006 429
After mulling for more than five months, the State Government has finally come out with a scheme to make the Biju Patnaik Swimming Complex here at Kalinga Stadium functional from August 20. Under the scheme, anybody, provided he or she knows organised swimming, can use the facility by paying membership fees.
‘‘We will take in a maximum of 140 members in four phases. Members will be of four categories — life, annual, special invitee and honorary. The pool will function seven hours a day and a member will get one hour per day,’’ State Sports Director Nalini Kumar Burma said.
Fee for life membership has been fixed at Rs 5 lakh per corporate house (not exceeding five people) and Rs 21,000 per individual. Annual membership will cost Rs 5,000 per family (not exceeding four) and Rs 2,000 per individual. Besides the membership fee, annual members will be required to pay monthly subscription at the rate of Rs 300 per family and Rs 100 per individual. Monthly subscription will not be applicable for life members.
Pay-and-use rule will also be applicable for conducting coaching and competitions at the international standard swimming pool. Charges per day for coaching programme will be Rs 1,500 for educational institutions, Rs 2,000 State association and Rs 4,000 for any other department.
Booking the pool for the purpose of competitions will cost Rs 500 per day for open state championship and Rs 5,000 for departmental meets. However, no fee will be necessary to conduct coaching programme for sports hostel inmates and competitions of national and international stature. Members of the complex may use the adjacent modern gymnasium by paying a subscription of Rs 500 per month.
According to the Sports Director, the pay-and-use scheme has been formulated in order to make complex a self-sufficient unit. ‘‘The complex will function as an autonomous unit, generating resources through membership fees and rental charges for its maintenance,’’ he explained.
The Government has constituted a committee to look after the management aspect. The committee includes Sports Minister as chairman, Sports Secretary (working chairman), Sports Director (convener-secretary), Kalinga Stadium in-charge (joint-secretary); Government swimming coach, Orissa Swimming Association secretary, two eminent swimmers, two eminent sportspersons, representatives of Sports Authority of India, builders IDCO and corporate house; East Coast Railway Sports Association president, one life and two general members (all members).
The committee will appoint coaches, trainers, life guards and attenders for the smooth running of the complex. A proposal has also been sent to the Finance Department to provide swimming training to eight girls at Bhubaneswar Sports Hostel.
Though building the swimming complex took more than two years, the facility has come up as pride of place for the international standard Kalinga Stadium. If the words of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik prove true, the complex will be a full-fledged aqua sports centre with the addition of a diving and a practice pool by the end of the year.
