Kakinada, Oct 21st: The East Godavari district will host national level under-19 Basketball Tournament from January 10 to 14, 2010. As it is first of its kind being hosted by the district, the social welfare minister, Mr. Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, directed the officials concerned to take all necessary measures to make the program a grand success. The School Games Federation of India will organize the tournament at SKPGN Junior College at Ramachandrapuram, where nearly 700 players and 150 coaches from all over the country are expected to participate. The expenditure of the tournament was estimated to nearly Rs 12 lakh by the district administration.

In a review meeting presided by the minister here on Wednesday, the collector said that they were sending proposals to the government to allocate at Rs 4 to 5 lakh as their part to organize the tournament and for the rest of the amount they would seek help from the sponsors. He also said that they were planning to hold a special review meeting on the arrangement in November at Ramachandrapuram, to get a clear picture on the program and its arrangements. The zilla parishad chairman, Ch. Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna and the District Basketball Association president, Mr. Stalin were present.