Pune: We want to start 1000 Khelo India centers at District level across India – Kiren Rijiju
Pune, January 18: “My aim is to bring India in top 10 by the 2028 Olympics and to make it possible we have to create sports facilities at the ground level. Thus, we intend to start about 1,000 Khelo India sports centers at the district level across the country. We have around 700 districts in the country which means that we will have at least one centre per district, some districts will have more”, said Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for youth affairs and sports, Government of India in Pune on Monday.
He was in the city today to launch the Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge – Balewadi. Sunil Kedar, Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Government of Maharashtra, Aditi Tatkare, State Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Girish Bapat – Member of Parliament, Om Prakash Bakoria, Commissioner of Sports and Youth Welfare – Government of Maharashtra, Usha Dhore, Mayor Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Krishna Prakash, Commissioner of Police, Pimpri Chinchwad and Sushmita Jyotsi, Regional Director, Sports Authority of India – Regional Center Kandivali, Mumbai were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion Kiren Rijiju said, “Pune is not just a sports centre for Maharashtra, but also for the entire country. The city of Pune and the state of Maharashtra have potential to produce future champions for the country.” “Today is a special day as we are launching Khelo India State Centre of Excellence here. With this launch, we want to hold hands with the state government and work towards the progress of sports”, he added.
“Pune has a lot of talent, so does Mumbai. You go to Vidarbha, Marathwada, Konkan or any region of the state, there is an abundance of sporting talent available. We talk about having a tradition of sports, but we still don’t have a strong culture of sports. We need to work towards imbibing a strong sports culture in the people. The least we can do to support sports, is to start watching it. We have seen that cricket is popular because people watch it. Like we made Kabaddi popular by watching the league, we should start watching other sports too,” the minister appealed.
The Union minister pointed out that the state of Maharashtra is the only state in the country to have three Centers of Excellence. “Out of 23 State Centers of Excellence, three would be in Maharashtra,” he informed.
Sunil Kedar and Aditi Tatkare asked Kiren Rijiju to give the attention to the pending proposals of Maharashtra on which Rijiju assured to do the needful.
Om Prakash Bakoria made a presentation about the sports scenario in the state of Maharashtra and also about the activities to be undertaken from the Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge – Balewadi. He said that 30 athletes each from shooting, cycling and athletics shall be identified for the necessary training and the talent identification process for the same will begin soon. The total project cost of this KISCE at Balewadi would be 38.02 Cr.
So far an amount of Rs.2.75Cr for the recurring expenditure including coaching, sports science and management, asset utilization charges, minor injuries management, kitting – general sports training kit, recurring expenses for consumable equipment, sport equipment and an amount of Rs.5Cr for 25M shooting range target system and sports science center equipment has been provided by the Sports Authority of India.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between Directorate of Sports and Youth Services Maharashtra State and the Sports Authority of India on this occasion for the center. Athletes who have qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics including Rahi Sarnobat, Tejaswini Savant and Swarup Unhalkar (Paralympics) were felicitated at the hands of Kiren Rijiju along with Varun Kapoor whose is currently world no 2 in under 19 category in Badminton. Sudhir More, Assistant Director, Sports and Youth Services – Maharashtra proposed the vote of thanks.
