Senate body directs end to use of sports facilities as marriage halls
By Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Standing Committee on Sports has directed the Ministry of Sports and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to stopforthwith misuse of sports facilities / complexes in various parts of the country particularly their use as marriage halls and to cancel all future bookings.
“Consider other means of income generation instead of renting these premises for activities incompatible with their current status”, it advised.
This instruction was given in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Sports held at the Parliament House today and chaired by Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry. It observe that use of such facilities for activities other than sports is not only depriving the sportsmen from developing their potential in various sports but also degrading the premises meant primarily for providing healthy sporting and recreational facilities to the people especially our youth.
The meeting also called for timely completion of the various ongoing development projects being executed by the PSB by removing the bottlenecks and to ensure quality work. “New sports facilities should be provided and the existing ones must be maintained properly”, it instructed.
It underscored the need to provide more avenues of healthy entertainment to the people particularly the younger generation and to develop its potential for competitive sports.
Expressing concern over deteriorating standards of sports in the country, it emphasized that all those responsible development of sports must strive for revival of the country’s old glory in sports like cricket, hockey and squash with which the countryman have almost emotional attachment.
The committee asked the PSB to fill the vacant posts expeditiously and to regularize the daily wagers and work charged employees particularly packages being offered to the office bearers of sports bodies like PCB and PSB and every effort should be made to spend each and every penny of the tax payers’ money judiciously. “People are getting hefty sums but practically doing nothing. The results must reflect and justify fat salary packages especially in the PCB”, it added.
The meeting called upon various Government agencies and departments like the Interior Ministry, Police, rangers, etc to pay for stationing their troops/ soldiers in sports facilities like the Sports Complex in Islamabad and elsewhere int he country as and when they are called out to help the Government in connection with improving the law and order situation.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Senators Muhammad Enver Baig, Mrs. Razina Alam Khan, Dr.Mrs.Kausar Firdous and Mrs.Sabina Rauf besides senior officials of the Ministry of Sports and DG (PSB).