Sports Council, Youth Services & Sports Department merger on the cards

Jammu, Aug 27 (Representative) In a major move to bring two sports wings under one umbrella, Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council (JKSC), an autonomous body, and the Youth Services and Sports Department (YSS) are likely to be merged, sources said on Tuesday. Sources privy to the development said that the merger between the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council (JKSC) and the Youth Services and Sports Department (DYSS) is likely to happen very soon following which the department is to be named as Jammu and Kashmir Directorate of Youth Services and Sports. The new directorate will be an exclusive governing body for sports and academics across the Jammu and Kashmir to be headed by the Director General/Director level official. “It has been decided to disband the J&K Sports Council and merge it with the Youth Services and Sports Department to have a control and responsibility of a single department to promote sports in Jammu and Kashmir,” said an official source. “The merger of JKSC and the DYSS is much overdue for which the administration has already taken a call and to avoid multiple controls, the implementation on ground is likely to take place very soon,” the source told UNI.

He said, “The manpower associated (directly/indirectly) with the JKSC and the YSS are already considered to be the employees of ‘Jammu and Kashmir Youth Services and Sports Department’ and all of them are filing their monthly performance reports on the same official portal.” “The documentation process for merger is in progress at the administrative level and is expected to get a nod at the government level,” the source added.Notably, in the present format, J&K Sports Council – the body taking care of infrastructure and coaching – is headed by a Secretary rank official. The Youth Services and Sports Department – engaged in sports and academics at the schools level – is headed by an official of the Director General (DG Sports) rank.However, both the departments are being supervised by the Secretary Youth Services and Sports, Jammu and Kashmir. “The Jammu and Kashmir government in a major initiative aimed towards administrative reforms has decided to merge some departments to ensure that developmental and other works are expedited and there is single control on a majority of the projects,” sources said.

They said that with a view to streamline functioning of various departments and avoid multiple controls, the government has also taken cognizance of the working of multiple departments with overlapping roles, as in the case of J&K Sports Council and Youth Services and Sports Department.Sources alleged that interests of the two departments were found to be clashing, prompting the government to take a call ion their merger. The Department of Youth Services and Sports came into being in the year 1973 and prior to that it was a part of the Education Department.However, Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council, as per the official records, was registered under the Societies Registration Act in 1959 with its Governing Body viz. J&K State Sports Council with strength of 22 as founder members. J&K Sports Council performs a dual role of advisory and administrative body, it regulates the activities of recognised sports associations funding their operations and also advises the government in sports related matters, recommending and formulating policies for encouragement and nurturing of sport in Jammu and Kashmir.