Finally, SAI centre to come up at Zirakpur

Deepankar Sharda 

Tribune News Service 

Chandigarh, July 15 

Nearly four years after then Director General, Sports Authority of India, Jiji Thomson had announced a regional SAI centre in the close vicinity of the city, Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel today said the project worth Rs 13 crore would be set up at Zirakpur.  

“We will set up a regional SAI centre at Zirakpur, which will cater to Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh and Punjab,” the minister said here today.

When asked that the project was announced in October 2013 by the then SAI DG, Goel said he was “not aware about the previous developments” and asked the official concern to answer the query. 

As per the SAI representative, the project got the sanctioned amount of Rs 13 crore in June this year, which resulted in the delay. 

“We got the funds only in June this year, that is why the project got delayed,” said the SAI official.   

“We were planning to lay the foundation of the centre today…but it will be performed soon. I am not aware what happened in the past, but this project will be completed soon to benefit the players,” Goel added. 

Asked whether the future projects would also take such a long time to get sanctions, the minister replied: “The projects under the government do face a lot of hurdles, but we are trying our best to complete everything in a time-bound manner.”    

The new SAI centre will be spread across 15 acres and will have a football field, gymnasium hall, administrative block, indoor sports facilities and a six-lane athletics track. 

The project is estimated to cost Rs 13 crore and funds have already been sanctioned. 

The new centre is likely to ease the pressure on SAI centre at Patiala by catering to the sportspersons from northern India.

The minister, meanwhile, pointed that the incumbent government was taking SAI’s help in a big way to revive the sports culture in the country.

“We are eyeing young kids. We have already started preparations for the 2020, 2024 and 2028 Olympics. The government will introduce 1,000 scholarships worth Rs 5 lakh each in around 10 disciplines to prepare potential sportspersons for future. These scholarships will be given to the potential children for a maximum period of eight years and we will add 1,000 such scholarships every year,” said Goel. 

He also claimed that now on medical and sports fitness of coaches would also be checked through an external agency.

Goel further said the government was making maximum efforts to put the sports code in place for the federations. “The government is helping in terms of funds for players through federations. I know there are many loopholes in the federations and so we have placed the sports code in order. It has helped us a lot in controlling the already unstable federations,” he insisted. 

On the existence of several parallel associations, the minister said it was impossible to keep everyone happy. “The players should only believe in associations that are affiliated to the government.”  

He also said it was difficult to recognise new disciplines. “Khel se khel nikalta hai (a game comes out of a game).” 

“Now-a-days, we are flooded with recognition requests. Every day two new disciplines come up with a request for recognition, but we have stopped entertaining all such applications. Only sports affiliated to the Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games are being given recognition.” 

Goel also hinted at the merger of School Games Federation of India, ICSE and Kendriya Vidyalaya into one organisation. “It will help both players and organisers,” he said. 

The National School Games are scheduled to be held in New Delhi next year in 23 disciplines. 

Recently Haryana Sports Minister Anil Vij had claimed that the Motilal Nehru School of Sports at Rai, Sonepat, would be turned into a Sports University, but Goel said: “We have not received any request in this regard.”

On players/universities spending from their own to participate in the World University Games, the minister said: “We had a meeting with the officials of the Association of Indian Universities, they have to follow some of our conditions to get the grants. Things are under process.”   

The minister, meanwhile, said the nation was ready to host FIFA U-17 World Cup and added that he would like the schoolchildren to see FIFA games for free. “Through FIFA fest, we plan to reach 15,000 schools,” Goel pointed.

On Chandigarh Cricket Association’s recognition from the BCCI, the minister said: “The BCCI is already struggling in court. The local association should approach them to get the recognition. It’s not in our hands.” 

Interestingly, local BJP president Sanjay Tandon also heads the Chandigarh Cricket Association.