Manipur: Mary Kom Boxing Academy gets accredited

25 July 2018:

The Mary Kom Boxing Academy has achieved an accreditation from the Sports Authority India (SAI) for “Khelo India” development programme (KIP).

The academy received the accreditation under the first phase of the process of accreditation. Out of the 32 newly-accredited academies across the country, the Mary Kom Boxing Academy is the only academy to be accredited from the Northeast.

The KIP was an initiative by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to revive sports culture in India at grassroots level. Talented players will be identified under the scheme in priority sports disciplines at various levels by high-powered committed and each will be provided with annual financial assistance of Rs.5 lakh for 8 years.

SAI has identified 734 youngsters for Talent Development Programme under the KIP. Since the programme targets at the grassroots level, academies, like Mary Kom Boxing Academy. will play an important role. There is also a proposal on the table to develop more such academies across the country, especially in the Northeast.

The accredited academy will receive funds from the Central government, which will be utilized for training, boarding and tournament expenses of the athletes. In order to maintain the standards, there will be frequent reviews of the academies. If any academy falls short of the desired standard, the accreditation will be cancelled.

In 2017-18, Arunachal Pradesh received Rs.13 crore to execute the projects approved under the scheme. Similarly, Assam received Rs.12 crore. However, Manipur received a small amount of Rs.3.5 crore considering the level of competitiveness of sportspersons in the state and lack of adequate infrastructure. Mizoram and Nagaland received Rs.2.5 crore and Rs.2 crore respectively. Tripura received Rs.2.5 crore for developing the approved projects. Sikkim has not received any funds under the scheme so far.