Over 900 villages to get sports training centres

Fatehsinh Vasava,Officer on Special Duty,PYKKA,and member secretary of the Sports Authority of Gujarat,said there were some budgetary problems last year.

But for 2009-10,a grant of Rs 17 crore has been sanctioned for the first year of this 10-year scheme,he said.

“We have selected 900 village panchayats and 22 talukas across the state where the training centres will be set up,” he added.

The sports to be promoted under the scheme are archery,kabbadi,kho kho,wrestling,weightlifting,handball,football,volleyball,hockey and athletics.

“District sports officers are finalising the popular village sports and the villages where the centres will be set up,like kabbadi which is popular in Rajpipla and archery in Naswadi. We are trying to select the village where there is no infrastructure available,” said Vasava.

The final list is likely to be submitted later this month.

“The kridashree (trainers) will be responsible for the training and maintenance of the infrastructure. Prior to that,they will undergo training from our master trainers,” he said.

Gradually,the scheme is expected to cover all 13,000 village panchayats in the state. Every panchayat will be given Rs 1 lakh

and every taluka Rs 5 lakh to set up the infrastructure.

“At present,Naswadi,Kwant,Chhota Udepur and Dabhoi have been selected in Vadodara district for setting up archery training units,which can be set put up at schools or unused grounds in the villages. Talukas in Dahod have also been selected for the same,” said District Sports Officer Dinesh Chaudhary.

He added: “The tribals here have an inclination towards archery. As of now,there is one privately-run archery training centre at Naswadi. Archery in itself is not a very popular sport and there is not much awareness about it either. A training centre will help increase awareness in the sport.”

M M Pathan,secretary of the Sports Authority of Gujarat,said: “Of the 13,000 village panchayats in Gujarat,we have selected 10 per cent of the village panchayats where each panchayat has been given Rs 1 lakh to develop infrastructure in schools or to develop playground in the village. The grant can be utilised for various sports like kabbadi,kho kho,volleyball,football and various other sports including archery.”