The Lok Sabha on Friday passed The National Sports University Bill, 2018, which aims to establish and incorporate a specialised university to promote sports education.
The university, to be set up in Manipur, would be the first of its kind and would promote sports sciences, sports technology, sports management and sports coaching.
It would also function as a National Training Centre for select sports disciplines by adopting best international practices in the field.
In his reply to members on the Bill, Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said the university would address various issues relating to training of elite athletes and would also be for research in the sports field.
He said by 2019, the sports industry would be an 80 billion industry, and the proposed university would help India acquire knowledge in the field of sports.
It would not be like any other university in the country, Rathore said, adding that it could also have branches abroad. He said the BJP government has increased the stipend for sports persons from a yearly amount of Rs 850 to a monthly stipend of Rs 1000.
The government has also collaborated with private institutes to improve infrastructure for sports training, the minister said. Earlier participating in the discussion, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said the government should not restrict itself to just one national sports university in the country.
Trinamul Congress member Prasun Banerjee also demanded many more such universities in other parts of the country as well. “Why not Bengal, why not Punjab, why not all over the country?….. Why not make one in Kolkata? Why don’t you host the World Cup here?” he asked.
Banerjee, a former footballer, said there should not be any politics in sports. “I feel the sports budget should be increased. We are not getting anything. We can’t become world champions on roti and aloo. If needed, please talk to the prime minister and get the funds from there,” he said.