Sports Day Budget Shortfall: Which Lines Can Be Cut
The JSA of an Eklavya Model Residential School is handling arrangements for the annual sports day on 22 February. The Principal has sanctioned ₹54,000, and the accounts clerk confirms that no re-appropriation from other heads is possible.
Entries have closed with 240 participants out of 480 students. Fourteen events will be held, and each event must award gold, silver and bronze. The committed rates are: participation kit ₹120 per participant, refreshments ₹35 per participant, medal ₹75 each, tent and seating ₹9,500, public-address system ₹6,500 from the only licensed vendor, and participation certificate ₹8 per participant. The tent contractor has already received a ₹4,000 advance that is not refundable.
The Principal's three non-negotiables are: every participant receives the kit and a certificate, and every event gets its full set of three medals. The vendor has offered a four-hour package in place of the full-day one. Certificates can be printed in the school's own computer room on the same card paper at ₹5 each.
1. Work out the total committed expenditure and decide whether the sanctioned ₹54,000 is enough. Show every line of the calculation.
Read the worked answer
Line-by-line computation
- Participation kit: 240 × ₹120 = ₹28,800
- Refreshments: 240 × ₹35 = ₹8,400
- Medals: 14 events × 3 positions = 42 medals; 42 × ₹75 = ₹3,150
- Tent and seating: ₹9,500
- Public-address system: ₹6,500
- Certificates: 240 × ₹8 = ₹1,920
Total = 28,800 + 8,400 + 3,150 + 9,500 + 6,500 + 1,920 = ₹58,270
Sanctioned amount ₹54,000, so the plan is over budget by ₹4,270 (about 7.9% above sanction).
Two mistakes the calculation invites
- Counting medals as 14 × ₹75 (= ₹1,050) and forgetting the three positions, which understates the bill by ₹2,100.
- Counting medals as 240 × ₹75, which overstates it wildly; medals are per event, not per child.
The figure ₹4,270 is the number that matters: any proposal must recover at least this much without touching the kit, the medals or the certificate entitlement.
2. The Principal refuses to reduce kits, certificates or medals. Propose a revised plan within ₹54,000 and justify every cut you make.
Read the worked answer
Cuts that respect the three non-negotiables
- Refreshments: ₹35 to ₹25 per head (packed biscuit and juice instead of a catered snack). Saves 240 × ₹10 = ₹2,400.
- Public-address system: take the four-hour package at ₹5,000 instead of ₹6,500. The programme runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so four hours is enough. Saves ₹1,500.
- Certificates: print in-house at ₹5 instead of ₹8 on the same card paper. Saves 240 × ₹3 = ₹720.
Total saving = 2,400 + 1,500 + 720 = ₹4,620. Revised total = 58,270 − 4,620 = ₹53,650, leaving a cushion of ₹350 against the ₹54,000 sanction.
Why not the other lines
- The kit (₹28,800) and medals (₹3,150) are explicitly protected, and cutting them would break a promise already made in the entry circular.
- The tent is the wrong target: a ₹4,000 advance is already paid and non-refundable, so cancelling may save less than it appears to while removing shade for 240 children.
- The cushion of ₹350 is deliberately kept, not spent, because medal and certificate rates can move slightly on the final bill.
3. After the revision, what share of the revised total goes to per-participant items, and why is that figure worth reporting to the Principal?
Read the worked answer
Per-participant items in the revised plan
- Kit: ₹28,800
- Refreshments: 240 × ₹25 = ₹6,000
- Certificates: 240 × ₹5 = ₹1,200
- Total = ₹36,000
Revised total = ₹53,650, so the share is 36,000 ÷ 53,650 × 100 = 67.1%.
Check by the other side: fixed items are tent ₹9,500 + PA ₹5,000 = ₹14,500, i.e. 27.0%; medals ₹3,150 = 5.9%. The three shares add to 100%. Per-participant spend is ₹36,000 ÷ 240 = ₹150 per child.
Why report it The percentage separates money that reaches each child from money spent on infrastructure. A high 67.1% share tells the Principal that further cuts must come from the child's own kit and refreshment, which is politically and educationally costly, whereas the 27% fixed block is where next year's negotiation should begin - for example by hiring a smaller tent. The ₹150 unit cost is also the figure to quote when the next year's sanction is proposed.