Members of various sports organisations and sportspersons staged a demonstration in the city on Saturday urging authorities to regularise the services of coaches under the Sports Authority of Karnataka (SAK).
SAK, which is part of the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, has appointed coaches throughout the State for different games on contract basis.
They have been working for 30 years without regularisation of their services.
The demonstration by sportspersons was an expression of their solidarity to the cause of the SAK coaches. There are nearly 85 to 90 SAK coaches for different games in the State, all on contract. C.K. Muralidharan, a veteran sports journalist, said that SAK coaches were on par with the coaches appointed by the Sports Association of India, most of whom draw UGC-scale salaries.
They have nurtured talents in different fields who have gone on to represent the State and the country.
D. Sudarshan, secretary, Volleyball Association, said that the coaches have imparted scientific training to budding sportspersons all these years and were dedicated to their work despite the uncertainty of their services.
Students of sports hostels across the State staged demonstrations in support of the cause. A memorandum was also submitted to the Deputy Commissioner.
