Federal Minister for Sports, Engineer Shoukatullah, showed his displeasure with the performance of his ministry as well as the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Saturday. Talking to a press conference along with Director General PSB Amir Hamza Gillani in the Committee Room of the board on Saturday, the minister said that the devolution of federal sports ministry would not affect the functioning of the PSB and it would continue to hold different sports events. Shoukatullah said that he had visited the offices of the ministry and the board soon after taking charge as minister. “I asked the officers to streamline the affairs to achieve the goal of promotion of sports in the country.
“The fruitful results will be seen very soon,” he said. Responding to a question, the minister said that the PSB would go either to the Cabinet Division or to another ministry after the devolution of the sports ministry. “The national sports federations will remain under the umbrella of PSB the same way,” he said. He said that the transfer of sports ministry would give more rights to the provinces which would help promote sports activities in the country. “It will not only remove the sense of deprivation of small provinces, but will also go a long way in promoting sports in the country,” he said. The minister said that sports were a best way to tackle the evils of militancy and terrorism in the country and the government was trying hard to promote a healthy culture in the country.
“If our youth are provided with facilities and opportunities in sports, the forces of extremism and terrorism would find it difficult to mislead them,” he added. He said the previous sports ministers did not accord due priority to sports and as a consequence there was a lot of things to be improved. He claimed that since his taking over of the sports ministry, there had been a paradigm shift. “Had the affairs of the ministry been in the hands of a minister who had some know-how of sports, things would have been different today,” he maintained. “I issued instructions to PSB to ensure its support to national sports federations, which are headed by capable people and are doing well for the promotion of their respective game.
I also asked the officials to take strict action against those involved in corruption, “he said. He also said that Pakistan was a secure country to play and the government was in touch with different countries to convince them to send their teams to the country. “We will provide them foolproof security if they visit Pakistan,” he said. The minister also approved a financial assistance of Rs 100,000 for Din Muhammad, Pakistan’s first gold medalist of the Asian Games. Din Muhammad, who won gold medal in fly weight wrestling in the 1954 Asian Games held at Manila, Philippines, was living in a miserable condition and was finding it extremely difficult to make both ends meet.
