Usha's school to start next year

Former Indian sprint queen P T Usha may not quite have hung up her running shoes yet, for she is busy putting her long cherished school of athletics on the starting blocks.

The Rs. 300 million P T Usha School of Athletics will start functioning from a rented building in her hometown Koilandy, about 350 km from Thiruvananthapuram, from June 1 next year, Usha said.

"Initially we are planning to have at least 15 girl students. The building is a two-storey house. The first floor will be the dormitory and the ground floor would have all the facilities of a health club, mess and the office.

"We are planning to have only girls in the first year. When we move into our own building, it would be a mixed student population.

"Right now the building would take care of the sports activities. The girls who would be in the eighth standard would have their regular education curriculum at the St Michael's Girls High School in Kozhikode," said Usha.

The project got off the ground under the previous E.K. Nayanar government, which gave Rs 1.5 million and ordered the allotment of a 30-acre plot at Kottakunnu, near Payaoli, Usha's birthplace.

The land is yet to be handed over to Usha and her husband V Sreenivasan, who have met Chief Minister A.K. Antony, Industries Minister P.K. Kunjali Kutty and Sports Minister K. Sudhakaran to speed up its allotment.

"At least 37 companies have agreed to sponsor various activities of my school. I hope the government will speed up land allotment," said Usha.

Sudhakaran said: "As sports minister I will do everything to see that her project comes through at the earliest. There is no problem, it is only a matter of time before this happens."

Usha's husband Sreenivasan has quit his job with the Central Industrial Security Force to help her with the project.

He said the biggest contribution would come from a U.S.-based Keralite businessman, who is helping arrange the California-based Santa Monica Athletic Club to train the inmates of the school.

"The initial fee for this is $100,000. Subsequently, an annual charge of $10,000 will have to be paid. All this will be borne by the NRI," said Sreenivasan.

Usha and her husband feel that in three years, they would make their school the most advanced in the country.

The two have met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee to seek his help to sustain their project in the long run.

"We have not asked for any special grants. We would want allocation from the budgets of the sports and human resource development ministries as well as from the Sports Authority of India," said Usha.

"We are thankful to the finance ministry for exempting all donations to the school from income tax," said Sreenivasan.

Indo-Asian News Service