Centre making bid to improve sports infrastructure: Minister

Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said here today that the government is making a bid to improve basic sports infrastructure to throw up opportunities for young talented players to win medals for the country.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants sports and its training basic infrastructure should improve so that the young talented players get better and conducive atmosphere to excel. The central government has made special budgetary allocation for sports promotion," he told reporters here.
He said that the central government has decided to set up the first national level sports university in Manipur and it is being planned to develop sports facilities at the block level, all across India.

He said that a panel to identify promising athletes headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur has been formed under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) with an aim to excel in the Olympics. The panel will pick up promising players and assess them with an eye on the Olympics, he said.
Sonowal said that thrust areas will be athletics, archery, badminton, boxing, and shooting events.