Mankapur Divisional Sports Complex that started functioning in 2015 with a non-sports programme continued the tradition of focussing on more non-sports events. Till now before pandemic, the complex hosted 130 programmes, of those 130 event, only 20 had relation with sports. This shocking information came to the fore when the data was procured under Right to Information Act (RTI). It is the irony of sports. When such a huge stadium is developed to groom children of the region in sports, the place is taking more care of non-sports events than the sports ones. Now, to make it a complete non-sports place Government has recently announced to set up a 1000-bedded jumbo COVID hospital in its premises.

 

How many sports events were held at Mankapur Sports complex since its inception? How many non-sports programmes were organised? How many sports tournaments the complex witnessed since it came into existence? These were some of the questions asked under RTI. The information revealed out of it was very much shocking. Shocking to that extent that the doubt may get raised in sportslovers’ mind whether this complex is constructed really for hold sports events or not? The complex started functioning on October 25, 2015 with a programme ‘Science-based educational programme’ (a non-sports event). It took about five months - on March 6, 2016, the complex witnessed first sports activity-- Boxing tournament organised by Kamptee Taluka Boxing Association, not before witnessing 16 non-sports programmes.

 

Some of these 16 programmes included marriageable youths’ meet, mass wedding ceremony etc. Several cultural programmes of singing, dancing were organised in the stadium and its premises. Every department, be it forest, be it cultural, be it education everyone used the complex for its programme, majority of which were non-sports ones. A good sportsman avoids liquor and it is also said that sportspersons should not consume it. Unfortunately, this only sports complex of the region allowed an agency to hold a conference of Liquor Association in its premises. Surprisingly, the Sports Department has fixed the rates for providing the premises and hall for non-sports programmes. How can authority provide the premises even on rent for the programmes other than the sports’ ones is a million dollar question. If one wants to hold a programme in indoor hall one has to pay about Rs 5 lakh per day.

 

The rate of premises is Rs 2.53,400 lakh. When the premises is given for rent whether the authority allows the party to use the track also or not is uncertain. If one goes by the history of this complex one would realise it has made lot of damages. Before coming up at Mankapur, this particular proposal of sports complex has spoiled several things. This complex was to be constructed on a 70-acre land belonged to Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University near Ambazari. Government had procured the land for sports complex that has come at Mankapur. But for several years it neither returned the land to university nor developed the sports complex. This approach of Government of sitting idle made university to lose the land to encroachers. It lost about 44 acre land to the slumdwellers. ‘The Hitavada’ kept raising the issue and finally Anoop Kumar, the then Divisional Commissioner while handling the additional charge of Vice-Chancellor, got the land back in university’s kitty. Government played with the sports. Thats another story but this sports complex has this history also. Mankapur Sports Complex too came up in around 2013 but it was not used for two years. Recently the election process of graduate constituency too was conducted in the premises of this complex.