Following the stiff opposition from residents to the plans to privatise the stadium, the Noida Authority on Monday cleared that no entrance fee will be charged to regular visitors including morning walkers and joggers.
The residents had protested against the move to privatise stadium as they feared that there will be an entrance fee to enter the sports facility.
But, as far as plans to privatise the stadium are concerned, it still remains on the cards. The Authority has the plans to hand over all the sports activities and stadium to a private company who will be running it on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. noida news
RK Mishra, the additional chief executive officer of Noida Authority said, “We got several complaints from the parents of students who come for coaching in the stadium. They complained that the coaching is not up to the international or national level. Due to which, they are forced to send their children to other stadiums in Delhi-NCR for the coaching.”
“So, we planned to run the stadium on the PPP model like it happens in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and other places. After this, the children will get best of coaching at par with the international level or national level,” he added.
Mishra informed that the private company will also be responsible for maintenance of the stadium.
“Even after handing over the stadium to a private company, all the decisions related to stadium and fee hike will be taken by the Noida Authority,” Mishra added.
But on the other hand, Federation of Noida RWAs (FONRWA) opposed the decision of the Noida Authority to privatise the stadium.
NP Singh, President of FONRWA told City Spidey that there is no need to give the stadium into a private hand. “The Noida Authority can provide the national or international level coaching to children on its own. They have sufficient funds for it,” Singh said.
Singh also said that they will organise a press meet on June 6 where they will announce the federation’s future course of action on the matter.
Surender Sharma, a resident of Sector-27, who takes badminton coaching with his son at the stadium said, “If the stadium goes into private hand then access to sports facilities will become more expensive. The Noida Authority’s statement that it will take all decisions even after privatisation of the stadium is only an eyewash.”
