Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Khadse on Thursday visited the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre at Salt Lake, Kolkata, to review sports infrastructure, athlete development programmes and support systems available to sportspersons.
During the visit, Khadse paid floral tribute at the Netaji Subhas Bust before visiting the hockey field, where she interacted with trainees and coaches and sought feedback on their training requirements, facilities and competitive needs. She also visited the indoor gymnastics and table tennis facilities and interacted with athletes and coaches.
The Minister inspected the Sports Science Department and discussed the role of scientific support in athlete development, conditioning, recovery and performance enhancement. She stressed the need to integrate sports science, nutrition, rehabilitation and performance support with quality coaching and regular competition exposure.
The interaction was attended by senior SAI officials, including Regional Director, SAI Kolkata Sibananda Mishra, Olympians Soma Biswas and Poulami Ghatak, Regional Director, MY Bharat Dev Kumar Chatterjee, and members of the Indian Women’s Rugby Team.
Khadse also inspected the newly developed 300-bed Khelo India hostel, reviewing accommodation and other support facilities for athletes. She subsequently visited the archery and athletics facilities and interacted with coaches and trainees to understand their requirements.
Later, the Minister chaired a review meeting with SAI officials covering athlete development, infrastructure, coaching, sports science and support systems at the Regional Centre. She assured continued SAI support for expanding sporting opportunities at the grassroots and strengthening pathways for young athletes to progress to higher levels of competition.
Khadse highlighted West Bengal’s strong sporting culture and talent base, stressing that access to quality infrastructure, scientific training, professional coaching and adequate competition exposure would be crucial to nurturing the next generation of athletes.
The SAI Eastern Regional Centre in Kolkata serves as a regional hub for implementing and monitoring SAI schemes across West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Its facilities include hockey and football fields, an archery field, a 400-metre synthetic athletics track, swimming pool, basketball and volleyball courts, indoor gymnastics and table tennis facilities, residential hostels and a dedicated Sports Science Centre.
The visit underlined the importance of strengthening the sporting ecosystem from the grassroots to the elite level, with coordinated support in infrastructure, coaching, sports science and athlete welfare.
