Maken for sports centres in villages

KOZHIKODE: Sports centres ought to be set up in remote villages where the real sporting talents of the country are based, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Ajay Maken said after laying the foundation of a synthetic track at the Usha School of Athletics in Kinalur here on Saturday.The minister had earlier visited P T Usha’s school in February and sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the synthetic track. The school has been declared as a training camp for London 2012 Olympic Games. On missing out the Indian Grand Prix, Maken said that he isn’t a celebrity, movie star or an item girl to be spotted at the event.The Sports Ministry had rejected the application for tax exemption for the Formula 1 event, after which he did not expect an invitation from the event organisers, he told reporters.In his inaugural address, he said the ministry will provide special grants to elite athletes and Olympians who were interested in starting schools for sports in their villages. Congratulating Usha for her efforts to promote athletics in the country, he asked the Central Public Works Department to complete the work of laying the synthetic track as per scheduled. He would visit the school again to ensure effective implementation of the project, he said.Usha had earlier said that the project to lay a world-class athletics track -- speeded up by Maken’s intervention -- was slated to be completed within a year, with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) being the implementing agency.He said the National Institute of Sport Sciences that is being set up at New Delhi would be the country’s apex body in athletics. Those who spoke were M K Raghavan MP, Purushan Kadalundi MLA and A K Saseendran MLA.  Dronacharya Award winner and coach O M Nambiar, former Indian Hockey team captain and COO of Olympic Gold Quest Viren Rasquinha, veteran sports reporter V Rajagopal and former director of SAI, Bangalore, G Kishore were also present.