BJP demands White Paper on National Games

The BJP on Saturday demanded a White Paper from the Jharkhand governor containing a detailed break-up of the expenditure incurred for setting up the Rs 240 crore-mega sports complex for the National Games to be hosted in the state in June.

The state is under governor's rule since January.

"The previous NDA government had approved only Rs 40 crore for establishing the infrastructure to host the National Games four years ago. The governor's advisory council last month approved another Rs 200 crore. We demand a White Paper from the governor Syed Sibtey Razi on the expenditure," BJP's state unit president Raghuvar Das told a press conference here.

While stating that a team of the party's 'sport's cell' would visit 'Khelgaon' (games village) here to assess the progress of the work, Das criticised the authorities for postponing the games several times.

"The National Games has been postponed four times since 2007, projecting the state in poor light before the sporting world. The authorities should not announce dates if they are not sure of organising the games by said time", Das said.

The National Games is scheduled to be held from June 1 to 14 in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad.