Commonwealth Games sports facilities would be fully utilized, assures Ajay Maken

NEW DELHI - Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Ajay Maken today said the stadia constructed for the 19th Commonwealth Games would be fully utilised.

While on his visit to the stadia here, Maken told reporters that a committee of eminent sportspersons would be formed to devise ways for optimal utilisation of the sports facilities.

“I have been to all the stadias, which have been constructed by SAI (Sports Authority of India) today, and I was very happy. On one hand, we have excellent world-class infrastructure in place but I was very sad to see that all these stadias didn’t have any players practicing around. So, we have decided now to form a committee of prominent players. We have Baichung Bhutia (soccer player), P. T. Usha (athletics champion), we Mary Kom (boxer) and Dilip Tirkey (hockey player). All these four players will be part of our team and they will suggest to us how best we can utilise all these stadia,” he said.

Maken further said the stadia would be opened up for training national teams for the London Olympics.

“We are looking at three ways how to use these stadia. First we would like these stadias to be converted into academies wherein our younger people, the school-going children, budding players, they can come, and they can practice, and they can get themselves trained. Second is, we can have our national and international competitions in these stadia, and the third is training for our national team for the London Olympics. So all these three aspects we are going to cover,” added Maken.

Maken said three of the five stadia have been handed over to the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for cleaning, and the rest to the Sports Authority of India.

He added the maintenance of the stadia is the responsibility of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), as they have constructed the stadia and have the blueprints and models, as well. (ANI)