A sports university will be opened to train and hone talents while promoting sports activities in Jharkhand. The sports university will be operated under the joint aegis of Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society and CCL. On Friday, Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari directed the officials to start the process. She directed to form a committee and study the sports universities of other states including the sports university opened in Rajgir, Bihar and use it according to the needs of Jharkhand.
Emphasizing on the proper use of other infrastructure including 4 indoor and 6 outdoor stadiums spread over 200 acres in the sports village, she directed to focus on what else can be done better to hone the sports talent of the state. She was addressing the 11th meeting of the Governing Council of Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society on Friday. The CS suggested taking the initiative to connect children of 4-5 years of age with sports academies and said that in foreign countries, children are trained from about this age and are made international level players.
In the meeting, the suggestion of opening government plus-2 schools for the education of children associated with the sports academy was accepted and the school education secretary was directed to start the process. It was told that the sports academy has the infrastructure, only the teachers need to be deputed.
In order to develop sports talent in Jharkhand, an MoU was signed between Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society and CCL in 2015 for 30 years with 50-50 per cent contribution. Under the joint aegis of both, since 2016, school sports talents have been selected in Ranchi's Khelgaon and facilities for accommodation, food, studies along with training in various sports have been provided to develop them. There is a facility for training 1400 children here, but at present a total of 220 children including 92 boys and 128 girls are getting training here. The number of trainers and support staff is 47.
The Chief Secretary stressed on increasing its number. It was told in the meeting that at present training of 11 sports is being given in the Sports Academy. Training will also be given in four other sports. The process of selection of trainers for this is in the final stage. From 2021-22 till now, 1628 children trained from the Sports Academy have won many medals in various competitions. It includes 4 gold, four silver and 6 bronze medals in international competitions, 74 gold, 70 silver and 118 bronze medals in national competitions, including 763 gold 352 silver and 227 bronze medals in state level competitions.
In the meeting, CCL, the partner of the Sports Academy, proposed to install a 5 MW solar system in the sports village in view of the heavy consumption of electricity in the activities of the Sports Academy. CCL will bear the cost of this from its CSR fund. It was told that the money saved from electricity bill will be used to further improve sports activities. The Sports Department also told that the infrastructure located in the sports village is 15 years old and needs renovation. The Chief Secretary directed to move forward in this direction.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary of Home Department Vandana Dadel, Secretary of Sports Department Manoj Kumar, School Education Secretary Umashankar Singh, CMD of CCL Nilendu Kumar Singh and officials associated with the Sports Academy.
