KARACHI, Oct 21: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has set aside a hefty Rs30 million for sports in its annual budget for 2007-08, showing an increase of Rs8 million from the year gone by, an official said on Sunday.He disclosed HEC has also approved 15 PC 1 for carrying out development work pertaining to sports across the country.Talking to Dawn, Director General Sports HEC, Talat Khurshed, said the department has appointed 23 men and women coaches and about seven to eight head coaches in different disciplines in various universities of the country in addition to giving extension to 10.

This, he said, is part of the HEC’s policy of reviving sports activities in the educational institutions which has yielded fruitful results.The HEC returned with a haul of eight gold, three silver and 11 bronze medals in the 30th National Games held here earlier this year.The official informed he has directed 24 universities across the country to establish fitness centres by the end of this month.A 27-member contingent including six officials recently featured in the biennial World University Games held at Bangkok he said adding though they could not win medal their performance graph has gone up.Twelve girls and nine boys represented the country in athletics, table tennis, badminton, gymnastics and tennis. —Sports Correspondent