Gujarat plans to distribute 34,000 sports kits when 8,000 schools have no playgrounds

The Gujarat government has decided to distribute 34,000 sports kits for various sports, but concerns have been raised over the lack of proper playgrounds in several schools across the state.

Currently, 8,000 schools in Gujarat lack playgrounds.

While the Gujarat government is actively promoting the ‘Khele Gujarat’ initiative, many schools lack Physical Training (PT) teachers and playgrounds, making it difficult for students to participate in sports activities.

Although sports and physical activities are essential for school students, this is not the case in many schools across Gujarat. As many as 7,209 government primary schools and 1,864 private primary schools do not have playgrounds. Yet, these schools continue to operate without any issues.

Concerns have been raised regarding the distribution of these sports kits, questioning where students will play with the equipment and who will teach them, as many schools also lack PT teachers.

The Gujarat government plans to spend ₹29.45 crore on these sports kits.

The kits will include 30 different types of sporting equipment, ensuring a wide variety and accessibility for students with different interests.

Each kit will contain items such as carrom boards, cricket bats of various sizes, badminton rackets and shuttlecocks, footballs, volleyballs, handballs, discus, rubber shot puts, javelins, chess sets, skipping ropes, hurdle sets, marking cones, relay batons, tenikoit rings, soft and hard tennis balls, stopwatches, and air pumps.

Kits to be distributed in 5 zones

Zone 1: Aravalli, Banaskantha, Mehsana, Patan, Sabarkantha.

Zone 2: Ahmedabad (district and municipal corporation), Botad, Kutch, Kheda, Morbi, Surendranagar.

Zone 3: Amreli, Bhavnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Rajkot (district and city).

Zone 4: Anand, Chhota Udepur, Dahod, Gandhinagar, Mahisagar, Panchmahal.

Zone 5: Bharuch, Narmada, Navsari, Surat (district and city), Tapi, Dang, Vadodara (district and city), Valsad.

As the state aspires to hold Olympics and has been earlier criticised for not producing international level athletes, the distribution of kits is not likely to help the situation if the basic amenities are lacking at the ground level.