For long there has been a disconnect between the massive stadia infrastructure across the country and their actual use by the public, off-limits as they have been under strict government control and rules.
The Sports Ministry, finally, seems to have woken up to the dichotomy and decided to open up stadia under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to National sports federations, clubs and various leagues free of cost from November 1 for the conduct of tournaments and other sporting events.
Expenses
The first of these include the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Major Dhyanchand National Stadium and Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi.
The federations, however, will have to pay for electricity and other sundries although for National competitions SAI is likely to bear that cost as well.
The facilities would also be made available to non-SAI coaches training non-National campers without any charge if there are a minimum of 10 trainees, the sessions having to be booked online. Anyone interested may have access to the facilities after registering themselves and booking slots in advance.
“The Sports Ministry is going all out to promote the ‘Fit India Movement’. In India, there aren’t enough playfields where children and those interested in fitness and sports can pursue a sport. The Sports Ministry has at its disposal some of the best sporting infrastructure of the country that needs to be utilised.
NSFs happy
“We had a meeting with all NSFs and all of them are very happy with this decision, and some of them have already submitted their plans to host leagues and tournaments,” Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said.
The ministry’s intention was to triple the use of existing infrastructure in the next three months he said.
Each stadium has been earmarked for a specific sport — Nehru Stadium for football, IG for wrestling, boxing, judo and badminton and hockey and swimming at National Stadium.
