Jaipal Singh Stadium in Ranchi. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, Oct. 26: The civic authorities’ failure to maintain the Jaipal Singh Stadium has forced the participants of the shram-daan, who once helped set up the sporting hub, to launch a revamp campaign.

The participants described the neglect as an insult to the concept of shram-daan.

All possible steps, including legal, will be taken to save the stadium and retain the dignity of voluntary labour, a volunteer said.

If the civic authorities do not have plans to maintain the stadium, they should hand it over to sports bodies of the capital, said advocate S.A. Banerjee.

“My friends and I spent hours under the scorching sun, with blisters on our shoulders and backs carrying earth to fill up the bhutaha talab,” Banerjee said.

The divisional commissioner, who called for shram-daan, was a government representative and promises made by him should be taken as a promise made by the state, said a political science teacher.

The government used the voluntary service of students to fill up a pond, promising a playground. Now the same state is earning from that stadium and is hardly spending anything in return, said N.K. Sinha, a member of Ranchi District Cricket Association.

The Chhotanagpur Athletics Association secretary N. Hoda said the association had made an offer to maintain the stadium during the period it was utilised, but the authorities did not agree to the proposal.

The district cricket association also has a stake in this stadium, as many shram-daanis are now members of the association.

The Ranchi District Cricket Association working president D. Sahay said the association, with more than 80 club-affiliations, does not have its own office.

“We had also offered to maintain the stadium during the cricket season,” Sahay said. The football and cricket associations, sports bodies for karate, kabaddi had held a demonstration to save the stadium from commercial exploitation.

Sports lovers said they were prepared to participate in another shram-daan to save the stadium. “We shall not permit any one, or any department, to turn our efforts into a commercial venture,” Banerjee said.