File photo of artists performing during the opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the Khelo India University Games in Guwahati on February 2024.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Berhampur: At least five new Khelo India Centres (KICs) under a central scheme will be opened in five districts of Odisha in three disciplines, officials said on Sunday.
The new KICs will be opened in Ganjam, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Nayagarh and Deogarh districts.
While the Khelo India Basketball centre will be opened at the Government Queen of the Mission High School in Ganjam district, the Khelo India Kho-Kho centres will be opened at Government SVT High School and RK Government School in the Gajapati and Jharsuguda districts, respectively.
The centre for football will be opened at Teleibani PS High School and Narayana Government High School in the Deoghar and Nayagarh districts, respectively.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has recently informed the Odisha government about the opening of the centres after the project was approved by the competent authority on Thursday.
The SAI would be given funds to run the centres. The coach or mentors for the proposed five centres in each discipline will be engaged in the next two months, the officials said.
Former champion athletes should be engaged as the coach in each discipline.
The talent pool identification would be done by the respective past champion athletes or organisations adhering to the guidelines of the scheme. Each centre must have strived to have an equal ratio of male to female trainees, the officials said.
The MP of Berhampur, Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, expressed his happiness as the government approved two centres of the Khelo India scheme in his parliamentary constituency.
"These will help the talented players to hone their talent and compete at the national and international level. They will get an opportunity to make their mark nationwide," he said.
K Ravi Kumar, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist in weightlifting said the centres would be helped to build up the athletes from the rural areas in the state by giving proper coaching and good infrastructure facilities.
According to the official website of Khelo India, 26 KICs in nine disciplines have been approved for 25 of 30 districts of Odisha, of which six have now started operations.