June 20, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 04, 1428

LAHORE, June 19: Rs4.6 million will be spent on the second Punjab Chief Minister Inter-school Games, starting here from Thursday, Punjab Sports Department secretary Naveed Akram Cheema said on Tuesday.

In all, 1,680 boys and girls representing various education boards of the province will compete in the disciplines of hockey, football, volleyball, basketball, kabbaddi, table tennis, athletics and badminton.

Cheema said the children will be given free kits, track suits and a daily allowance of Rs150 but no cash prizes.

He maintained that the infrastructure of a school which wins an event would be improved by the department instead of paying cash prizes.

“The Sports Department will monitor all the process of improving the infrastructure as the feedback about last year’s spending on the infrastructure was not satisfactory,” he said.

The secretary defended the decision to organise the three-day games in hot weather by saying the competitions would be held in morning and evening sessions.

He added it was the best time as the children were on summer holidays.

Cheema said the provincial government had increased the annual grant of the department, enabling it to increase monthly stipends of players.