Sports Authority of India (SAI) is mulling to reopen its National Sports Talent Content (NSTC) Scheme centres at Ranchi and Gumla. Ranchi centre at Bariatu was imparting hockey training to girls while boys were being trained in football at Gumla. As of now the plan is being discussed by the senior officials of SAI.
Assistant Administrator of Sports Authority of Jharkhand Sarvar Imam conceded that Director General (DG) Sports Jiji Thomson had visited Ranchi and Hazaribagh for official purpose in June first week and expressed his desire to reopen these sports institutes. The visit aimed at inspecting the SAI Centre to be inaugurated at Hazaribagh.
Imam said, “The DG quoted both these two NSTC based centres as best in India since two football Olympians including Bimal lakra and International hockey players like Asunta lakra and Savitri Purty have been produced by these institutions.”
“During DG’s visit to the State, the Principals of the schools which were running these SAI NSTC centres requested him to consider the beginning of these centres again,” said a SAI Jharkhand official. It is to be noted that these two training institutes were closed on April 1 this year for not fulfilling certain norms of SAI for past two or three years. SAI Jharkhand State Coordinator Sushil Kumar Verma said, “SAI has shown interest in opening these institutes and it is being discussed.”
SAI New Delhi Executive Director Operation division PC Kashyap said, “The scheme of Starting and Nurturing of Sports Talent (SNST) or NSTC is a wonderful scheme which was followed at the Bariatu hockey girls centre. We welcome our DG’s idea to open these two centres. A four point programme is being made to assess such planning wherein we would observe the good infrastructural sports facilities.”
“If the sports institutions maintain international standards then, a Centre of Excellence would be established. SNST or other such extension schemes would be followed if national sports norms are maintained here. If the instructions’ ambience is upto the mark of State or district level sports organisation then SAI’s ‘Come and Play scheme would be arranged.
For finalising on any of these three conditions, we ought to ascertain the ‘Field of Play’ at both girls’ hockey and boys’ football training centres,” added Kashyap. These SAI training centres would have to produce at least 20 players and 2 teams of national level as a compulsory SAI regulation.
For the funding of these schemes SAI headquarter officials shall request the DG to provide them recurring funds. The owners of these two sports institutes will be asked to maintain and operate their areas through an agreement of 10 to 15 years period.