Dharamsala sports centre is in the eye of the storm

Earlier, an expert committee had recommended that Dharamsala was the best location for sports training for children as far as climate, altitude and exposure was concerned.

Sources said that the SAI staff here have been given verbal instructions regarding the shifting of the centre to Bilaspur but the staff have not been involved in the decision-making.So far, nothing has been specified about the new sports complex which was to be inaugurated. The SAI has invested Rs 50 lakh along with the Himachal government for the complex.Assistant Director, SAI, in Dharamsala, Lalita, refused to comment on the situation.

According to sources, the decision to shift the centre to Bilaspur is not suitable due to the hot weather in the district. Even sporstpersons playing at the national level do not give the Bilaspur centre preference when regular camps are conducted.

“The Dharamsala centre now has the capacity to accommodate 80 students against 40 in Bilaspur. The grounds are also better here. Besides, there was a proposal to have a 400-metre track along with the sports complex. The venue also remains a hot choice for national-level sports campers all throughout the year, exposing the trainees, mainly school children, to the best talent,” they said.

The sports training centre in Bilaspur was opened in 1987 and the one in Dharamsala in 1992 with disciplines of athletics, volley ball and boxing.

The SAI had proposed to have one centre in HP. Sources said the Bilaspur BJP leaders wanted to retain the SAI complex in Bilaspur itself as it was opened during the Congress regime and any effort to shift it, might backfire politically.

The Dharamsala centre is in the eye of the storm.It has the benefit of a new building which can be used for the Tanda Medical College, a project that is crying for infrastructure and to get MCI recognition. This is also the pet project of the new government.But the state government has so far been unsuccessful in getting the building vacated by the District Institute of Education Training (DIET) for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the BJP minister from Dharamsala, Krishan Kapoor has resented the move to close down the SAI centre in town and has reportedly urged the local SAI authorities not to wind up the centre hastily but to further review the decision, as it may affect the children of the lower merged areas a great deal.General secretary of Dharamsala Block Congress Committee Prem Sood has threatened to launch an agitation if the BJP government allowed the SAI institute to be shifted to Bilaspur as it would be a “discrimination against children of lower Himachal.”