Top stadia open doors to students

Your college or organisation can now afford to organise a sports meet at the same world-class venue where 71 Commonwealth countries fought for the top slot in 2010.

Your college or organisation can now afford to organise a sports meet at the same world-class venue where 71 Commonwealth countries fought for the top slot in 2010.

HT Image

The world-class stadia of Delhi, built at the cost of thousands of crores in 2010 for the CWG, will now be available to government schools, colleges and universities at a nominal price of Rs1,000 per day.

Under the Come and Play Scheme, the Capital’s modern stadia will also be open for private schools, universities, colleges and corporates, though they will be charged a premium fee.

“After opening up of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) stadia to students and people at large earlier this year, we are now opening them for schools, colleges, universities and corporates for sports activities,” Union sports minister Ajay Maken said.

The stadia will also be available to registered societies, clubs and sports associations. In April, the SAI stadiums in Delhi had been thrown open to sports enthusiasts and separate coaches had been deployed at the venues.

“The initial response of the Come and Play scheme has been really good. Around 13,000 sports enthusiasts are availing this scheme and we think this world-class sports infrastructure should be accessible to whosoever needs it,” added Maken.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/HTEditImages/Images/27-12-pg-3c.jpg

The stadia were thrown open after a long debate as several doubts had been raised that the use by amateur sports enthusiasts will damage the world-class infrastructure.

“There will be wear and tear even if the stadia are not utilised. This way, at least amateurs will be able to use the equipment,” Maken said.

The weight-lifting auditorium at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium will be the only venue that will be opened for non-sporting activities. Its tariffs and other conditions are yet to be decided.