Agartala, Mar 20, 2023, TRIPURA TIMES Desk
Agartala, Mar 20: Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Monday stressed on strengthening the existing Sports Act through an amendment.
He was addressing a review meeting of the Youth Affairs and Sports department in presence of Minister Tinku Roy, Chief Secretary J.K. Sinha and other officials at the Secretariat.
Dr. Saha said, there is no dearth of talents and the state also has improved sports infrastructure. Now, the only need is proper nurturing and developed training.
He said, infrastructures for gymnastics, badminton, table tennis and other sports are also available in the state and initiatives should be taken for proper utilization of these facilities. In this context, he advised the concerned officers to be more active with a focus on more field visits. The Tripura Sports Act needs to be strengthened through an amendment, he added.
Secretary of the department P.K. Chakraborty said, annual sports events are organized from block to district to state levels. In the last five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23, a total of 3,95,711 students participated in such events.
He said, 15 participants from Tripura bagged gold medals, 11 bagged silver medals and 17 won bronze medals in the National School Games in the last five years. In Khelo India Youth Games, 7 participants from Tripura secured gold medals, 5 bagged silver and 2 players bagged bronze.
Giving more details, the Secretary said, 206 coaching centres are there in Tripura with 9,514 players and 494 physical instructors. The players get training in 18 events in such coaching centres. In this context, the Chief Minister asked the officials for development of the coaching centres. He also advised to hire SAI coach from outside, if needed.
The achievements and future plans of the Youth Affairs and Sports department were also discussed in the review meeting.