Berhampur, June 22: The Ganjam Athletics Association, which is honing football talents and organising district-level contests despite adverse circumstances, has demanded waiver of ground rent imposed by the government.

The association has taken up the issue with sports minister Sudam Marandi.

"The government is providing Rs 1 lakh per annum as grant to the association. But, when we are organising district-level tournaments, we have to shell out almost Rs 25,000 as ground rent. It must be immediately waived," said Ganjam Athletics Association general secretary J. Kameswar Rao, who is also a former basketball player of national repute.

Rao added that the association had taken up the issue with the sports minister who had assured to solve the problem. "We submitted a memorandum to the minister today at the Circuit House here, where he stopped for a few hours while returning to Bhubaneswar from Gajapati. The minister has assured us of immediate steps towards the waiver," said Rao.

The association members also alleged that the grant received from the government had been meagre, compared to its expense on sports activities in the district, which comes to Rs 4 lakh a year.

For the association, the biggest problem in nourishing budding talents in football, basketball, volleyball, boxing, kabaddi and khoko is the lack of a suitable playground.

"The Berhampur Stadium has been lying closed since past three years for renovation and we are facing problems because of this. This year, we had organised the athletic meet on the MKCG Medical College and Hospital ground, in which around 1,000 youths took part. We are also planning to hold district-level khoko and kabbadi tournaments. We would also select players for the state-level contest," Rao said.

Football is very popular here. However, lack of patronage has led to the closure of the All-India Faiz Memorial Football Tournament 15 years ago. "There is a need of systematic development of infrastructure for football," said Rao.

The association has also demanded the construction of a sports hostel for young footballers along with a weightlifting academy and a modern swimming pool.