Imphal, Apr 25 : Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said on Tuesday that the state government should provide full support and cooperation to make India a sports power house.
Addressing a Chintan Shivir of Youth Affairs and Sports Ministers of States/Union Territories here Anurag Thakur said sports ministers, officials taking out valuable time sat together to discuss sports related issues.
The outcome of the discussion will be immensely helpful in developing sports movement, the Union minister said. India is striving to become a global powerhouse of sports and to achieve this, the support and cooperation of each state and union territories is a must, he said.
He reiterated that development of sports of the country lies with the states and union territories while asserting that sports is a state subject and the responsibility for development of sports rested with the state and union territory governments.
Many states have shown this in action by producing players of international levels and other states can also take steps for the development of sports, he said.
These states can adopt the models being applied by the states advanced in the field. The conference held here has given an opportunity to share the models, Thakur said.
The Central government is supplementing the state’s efforts in this regard. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has formulated many schemes to promote sports in the country. The states should avail the benefits of the schemes, he asserted.
The Union Minister said that the National Sports University is tying up with international sports bodies in various aspects sports sciences, sports technology and sports management.
The National Sports University (NSU) was set up as a specialized university to promote sports education in the areas of sports sciences, sports technology, sports management and sports coaching, besides functioning as the national training centre for select sports disciplines by adopting best international practices, he said. He said that the NSU is also envisaged as an apex institution for advanced study and imparting training in physical education.
In the technical session of the last day of the conference, the delegates discussed the “Issues and challenges in sports governance” and “Improving engagement among stakeholders in the sports sector” with papers on the topic presented by resource persons.
Officials of the Indian Olympic Association, All India Football Federation, Indian Rugby Football Union, concerned officials of Kerala and Haryana were the resource persons of the topic, Issues and challenges in sports governance. It was followed by an open house discussion in which YAS ministers from various states shared their opinions and suggestions
Anurag Thakur also held a review meeting with officials and inspected the construction of the permanent campus of the National Sports University (NSU) at Koutruk . The Union Minister and officials of the YAS were briefed by the officials of the agencies handling the construction of the permanent campus and Thakur advised the officials for timely completion of the said project. NBCC, India Ltd, a central public sector enterprise under the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban affairs is the work agency of the project.
The Centre sanctioned the setting up of the National Sports University in 2014 with an allocation of Rs 100 crore in the Union budget 2014-15.The foundation stone for the construction of the University was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 16, 2018.(UNI)