Attempts are on to privatise the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium Complex (IGMC), one of the key destinations for sportsmen in the city.
The Krishna District Olympic Association (KDOA) has offered to pay Rs.5 lakh per annum to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) if the stadium was handed over to it. The authorities seem to be preparing to work in the direction of handing over the stadium if the recent statements of Municipal Commissioner G.S. Pandadas were any indication.
It is pertinent to mention here that Chetan Anand Academy has already asked the Corporation to allow it to maintain the shuttle facility at Dandamudi Rajagopala Rao Indoor Stadium (DRMC) located on Bandar Road.
The Commissioner recently announced that the VMC was toying with the idea of collecting fee from the morning walkers at the stadium inviting uproar from the opposition parties. Interestingly, similar plan was mentioned by the KDOA in its proposal submitted to the Corporation a month ago. The Association also asked the VMC to allow it to collect the fee from tennis players, which hitherto was being collected by the Corporation, sources say.
The Association assured the Corporation that it would meet the salaries of coaches and workers at the IGMC and appoint ball boys. The Corporation has already made separate arrangements for power etc. for tennis facility. The DSDO is collecting the fee from the players and there is no coach on the VMC rolls. The KDOA wrote two letters, one each to estates and sports wings of the Corporation. The file pertaining to it, sources say, is yet to be circulated.
The authorities are contemplating forwarding the proposal to 5-member tender committee. Tenders would be floated if the proposal gets approval from Council and Standing Committee, sources say.
