Centres of excellence for wrestling, boxing on cards: Gautam

To help players achieve greater success in global events such as the Olympics, World Championships, and Commonwealth Games, the government is ramping up efforts to provide more advanced sports facilities in state, said Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam.

He added that apart from enhancement of sports nurseries across the state and the government will implement a biometric attendance system. Starting with the Tau Devi Lal Sports Stadium in Panchkula, the new system aims to improve transparency and ensure that diet allowances are distributed only to eligible players. If successful, the biometric system will be expanded to other stadiums and schools with sports nurseries throughout Haryana, he said.

In addition to these changes, the Sports Department will provide insurance coverage for players to ensure proper treatment in case of injury. Gautam emphasised that consistent practice and better facilities will enable players to bring home more medals.

Gautam also announced that district-level and Rajiv Gandhi Sports Stadiums at the block level would be maintained properly, with efforts focused on cleanliness and the repair of playgrounds. The engineering wing of the Sports Department will be strengthened to ensure timely construction of multipurpose halls and other facilities at the stadiums. SDOs and JEs will be recruited to prevent any delays in the construction of multipurpose halls and other buildings at the stadiums, he added.

Centres of excellence for wrestling and boxing will be set up in Sonipat and Panipat, respectively, both equipped with hostel facilities for athletes, he said.

The initiative will make it easier for players to stay and focus on their training. Additionally, the Banda Singh Bahadur Martial Arts School will be established in Yamunanagar to promote martial arts training.

He directed the Director of Sports and Deputy Director to conduct visits to districts, assess stadiums and compile a report to ensure that all required equipment and resources are available. Additionally, a list should be compiled of sports trainers who are negligent in providing proper training to the players.

Officials were told to prepare an annual sports calendar and make preparations a month in advance in any district hosting games to avoid inconvenience for athletes participating in competitions.