Crores spent but gym equipment rusts away amid policy vacuum

The state of-the-art gyms at community centres are lying defunct in the absence of a proper policy. The Municipal Corporation (MC) had purchased advanced equipment worth crores for the facilities, but most of them are not in use.

The civic body, however, is now considering handing over the gyms to private firms or individuals to generate revenue. The city has around 50 community centres and nearly have of them are equipped with the gym facilities.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu said the lack of policy has resulted in the equipment worth in crores being rendered useless. “When the new community centres were set up, the MC made provisions for the gyms facility for the public. But it has failed to come up with a viable policy under which they can run smoothly,” he added.

Yogesh Dhingra, fellow councillor from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilor alleged that the MC has not had a policy for running the gyms for a long time. He said that a committee in Sector 37 community centre ran the gym for over one-and-a-half years but it was closed after not receiving financial support from the civic body.

“The facility was provided to the members of the gym for an annual fee of only Rs 3,000. The committee received no support from the MC, even in cases when the equipment required any repair,” he added, calling for clarity on the finances needed to run the gyms.

There have also been calls for the constitution of a panel to formulate a policy for running the gyms, with BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi saying accountability should be fixed in order to stop wastage of public money. He also called for an audit of all the purchases made for the facilities.

Damanpreet Singh , another councilor, said the equipment at the Sector 22 community centre gym has been lying unused for more many years. He added that he took the matter up with MC authorities on multiple occasions, but no action has been taken.

Request for proposal to be tabled in next House meet

When contacted, a civic body official said they are working on a policy to hand over the gyms to private firms or individuals for operation and maintenance. The official said the process for making the request for proposal (RFP) has begun and it will be presented before the next House meeting. The new model is also aimed at generating more revenue for the cash-strapped civic body.

Baljinder Singh Bittu, president Federation of Sectors Welfare Association, said a policy must be formulated in consultation of the residents’ associations to make the facility free. “The community centres are not meant to generate revenue. They are made to benefit public,” he added.

Chandigarh