Kolkata, September 17:Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Khadse on Thursday visited the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre at Salt Lake here and reviewed sports infrastructure, athlete development facilities and support systems at the centre.
During the visit, Khadse paid floral tribute at the Netaji Subhash Bust before visiting the hockey field, where she interacted with trainees and coaches and sought feedback on training facilities and competitive requirements.
She also visited the indoor gymnastics and table tennis facilities and interacted with athletes and coaches.
At the Sports Science Department, the Minister reviewed the scientific support available to athletes and interacted with sports science staff on conditioning, recovery and performance enhancement. She stressed the need to integrate sports science, nutrition, rehabilitation and performance support with quality coaching and regular competition exposure.
The interaction was attended by senior SAI officials, including Regional Director, SAI Kolkata, Sibananda Mishra, Olympians Soma Biswas and PoulamiGhatak, Regional Director, MY Bharat, Dev Kumar Chatterjee, and members of the Indian Women’s Rugby Team.
Khadse also inspected the new 300-bed Khelo India hostel and reviewed the accommodation and other support infrastructure being developed for athletes. She later visited the archery field and athletics facilities and interacted with trainees and coaches regarding their training requirements.
She subsequently chaired a review meeting with SAI officials on the functioning of the Regional Centre, covering athlete development, infrastructure, coaching, sports science and support systems.
During the meeting, Khadse assured continued SAI support for strengthening sporting opportunities at the grassroots level and developing pathways for young athletes to progress to higher levels of competition.
She said West Bengal’s sporting culture and talent base could be further supported through quality infrastructure, scientific training, coaching and greater exposure to competitive events.
The SAI Eastern Regional Centre in Kolkata serves as a regional hub for implementing and monitoring SAI schemes across West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The centre has facilities including hockey and football fields, an archery field, a 400-metre synthetic athletics track, swimming pool, basketball and volleyball courts, and indoor facilities for gymnastics and table tennis.
