MANIPUR: KHELO INDIA TO BOOST SPORTS INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE STATE

Some good News on the way for the sports enthusiasts

Sport-lovers and especially children of the state will get to hone their sporting talents conveniently as nook and corner of Manipur will get basic infrastructures through the Khelo India scheme.

In the ongoing press conference of HODs organised by DIPR at its Moirangkhom office, YAS Director Shri N Praveen said that the problem of sporting infrastructures concentrating in Imphal will be solved as State Level Khelo India centres comprising of basic primary level training grounds will be set up in hills and remote corners of valley through the Khelo India scheme. For the execution of the initiative, a DPR of Rs 3 crores has been submitted to the Centre by the department, he added.

He further added that the 107 players representing Manipur did fairly well by securing 5th position in the medals tally at the 1st ever Khelo India School Games held at New Delhi on the start of this year. He said that this performance was also appreciated by the Union Sports Minister in his recent visit to the state.

Briefing about the other main activities and achievements of YAS Department, the Director said that there has been substantial increase in the budget provision of coaching programme from Rs 25 lakhs in 2017-18 to Rs 70 lakhs in 2018-19 to provide better systematic and scientific coaching before participation in every State and National Championships.

Regular coaching being conducted by the department at the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in 25 sports disciplines can be regarded as breeding ground for future sports stars of the country. Shri Praveen added that it is from these coaching that prominent sports persons such as Mary Kom, Sarita, Devendro, Bombayla, Mirabai etc started their journey to sporting stardom.

Talking about the financial assistance given to state and district level sports associations, Shri Praveen added that the budget allocation for the purpose has been regained to the earlier amount of Rs 1 crore for this 2017-18. It may be mentioned that the amount for this assistance was lowered down to 70 lakhs in there earlier fiscal year due to some issue arising out of services taxes.

The YAS Director also briefed about the concern of the department to improve and update the available infrastructures. As a part of this, he said that floodlights will be installed in the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium and the Khuman Lampak Hockey stadium so as to enable hosting of major national and international level events. He also added that other sporting venues such as the Indoor or swimming or boxing etc will be upgraded. To start with, the department has submitted a DPR report of improving the Shooting Range at Khuman Lampak with the latest state-of-the-art technology to the Centre. He expressed his confidence that a positive response will come for this proposal.

Apart from the director, Joint Directors Kh Pramoda and Jayanta ; and Senior Sports Officer K Tomba Singh also sat in the dais to interact with the media persons.