NEW DELHI:The sports ministry plans to unveil a new app that offers information on sports facilities in the country and offers tutorials on how to play several sports. Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, while reiterating his ministry’s aim to rename and restructure the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said the first step would be to map the entire country for sports facilities.
DNA reports Rathore as saying that the app would be designed to let the children and their parents know ‘where to play, how to play’ at the same time. “We shall soon be mapping all sports facilities across the country, and load the data up on a mobile app which people can use to locate where they want to play. Moreover, we shall also add tutorials on how to play several sports. To begin with, we will cover 15 sporting activities, which will be expanded later. Animated videos will also be made available on the app to detail the skills employed in playing various sports,” said Rathore.
The word ‘authority’ appears definitely to be on the way out, and the word ‘service’ may well take its place, if Rathore’s statements are an indication. Speaking to the media in the capital, Rathore said that the government is also keen that the SAI becomes more “lean and professional” and that its strength would be reduced by half by 2022. He added that the Centre is planning to come out with a slew of measures to expand its search for talents across the country, in is mission to develop a culture of sports among school students.
This would entail the sports ministry launching a ‘talent hunt’ across the country at the end of this year to scout younger talents between 8-18 years of age, who will be provided sports and educational facilities in specially-selected schools, says a PTI report.
The ministry will also push for a fixed quota sportspersons, he said. Rathore added that Olympic-winning sports stars should be given reservation in ‘Grade A’ jobs.
