To boost Olympic performance; Sports Ministry to establish KISCEs in each State

In the first leg, the ministry had identified state-owned sports facilities in eight states of India, including, Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala, Telengana and the Northeast States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland which will be upgraded into KISCE.

The process of selection of these sports facilities was started in October 2019. Of the 15 proposals received and examined, the ministry shortlisted eight based on the training facilities available in priority sports, infrastructure facilities and champion produced by the centre.

In order to upgrade the existing centre to the KISCE, the government will extend a 'Viability Gap Funding' in sports science and technology support for sports disciplines practised at the centre and also bridge the gaps in requirement of sports equipment, expert coaches and high performance managers.

The support extended will be to Olympic sports, though support can be extended in sports science and allied fields in other sporting disciplines being run in the centre.

The State and UT will run the centre and build capacity to turn it into the world-class sporting facility, and will be responsible for all aspects of management of the centre including, boarding, lodging and maintenance, while funds for critical gaps such as expert coaches, support staff, equipment, infrastructure will be extended through the Khelo India Scheme.

Speaking about the initiative, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "The Khelo India State Centre of Excellence are being established to strengthen India's pursuit for excellence in Olympics. Our effort is to scale up the best sporting facilities available in each state in India into academies of world-class standard, where athletes from all over the country will want to train in their specific discipline."

"The sporting facilities have been identified after in-depth analysis by a government committee. I am confident that this is a step in the right direction to tap talent from across the country and train them into elite athletes who can win medals for the country in all major international tournaments, and specifically the Olympics," he added.

The eight centres will be given a grant based on the actual amount finalised as per the requirement indicated after a comprehensive gap analysis study. The states and UTs will also identify and develop talent in each sport for which funding is received at the centre.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) will extend expertise, resources and a monitoring system to ensure that the level of performance of the athletes improve to international standards.

In the first batch, the sporting facilities which will be upgraded to KISCE are Sangey Lhaden Sports Academy, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh; Jaiprakash Narayan National Youth Center, Bangalore, Karanataka; GV Raja Sr. Secondary Sports School, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala; Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal, Manipur; Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Aizawl, Mizoram; State Sports Academy, IG Stadium, Kohima, Nagaland; Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha and Regional Sports School, Hakimpet, Telangana. (IANS)

Also watch: Evening Bulletin | 16th June, 2020