Campus placement
Tribune News Service

Banur, May 14
A joint campus placement drive got under way at Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology (SUSCET), Tangori, yesterday. This is a two-day placement drive.

SPORTS

SGFI feud resolved
Govt recognises Satpal faction
G.S. Paul
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14
The long-drawn conflict between two parallel factions of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has finally been resolved with the ministry of youth affairs and sports recognising the faction led by Satpal and assigning it the responsibility of holding the school national games. With the decision, the other faction led by Ravinder Talwar has become defunct. The move would benefit the sports persons as the certificates issued by the newly recognised faction would be acknowledged and would enable them to get admissions to higher classes under the sports quota.

The elections of the SGFI were conducted in Delhi two months back under the observation of S.K. Sharma, under secretary, Government of India. After scrutinising the report submitted by Sharma declaring Satpal as president and Dr A.K. Mishra as secretary-general, the ministry of youth affairs and sports gave its nod to organise the national school games under the banner of the SGFI. A.K. Mishra, secretary-general of the SGFI, hailing the move said, “April 4 should be remembered as a red-letter day in the history of school games when this tussle was resolved.”

Welcoming the decision, president of the defunct faction Ravinder Talwar said, “Looking at the interest of students, we, too, are not keen on indulging in more complications.”

Nominated adviser to the SGFI Prem Puri stated that the schoolchildren, under this recognised banner, would participate in the forthcoming under-15 football (boys) in China. “We are holding a preparatory camp at Uttarakhand very shortly,” he added.

Earlier, due to the ongoing feud between both factions, it was the students who were suffering. Since 1999, the ministry had stopped funding the federation because of the dispute.

The students could not participate in the international events in 2004 because the Government of India refused to finance the tour. In July 2006, the Indian school team members had to pay a sum of Rs 70,000 from their own pockets to participate in the second Commonwealth Cricket Tournament held at Australia. 

The School Games Federation of India was formed in 1955 with the aim to promote games at the school level. Things worked smoothly until 1998. Then, there was a discrepancy in the election results of the federation. The SGFI split into two factions in 2003. Since 2003, these parallel bodies have organised events in different states. Both used to issue certificates to the participating students claiming to be the ‘real’ SGFI.