Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who met hockey players during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Sundargarh district recently, has sought for astro turf facility for the honing of skills of budding hockey players at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Special Area Games centre in the district.

Gandhi has requested Union Minister Anurag Thakur for doing the needful to lay an astro turf at the Special Area Games centre in the district, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC).

Advertisement

The Congress leader lauded the hockey players of the district which is known as the cradle of Indian Hockey.

“I met several budding players training at the SAI ground and learnt about the need for an astro turf,” stated Rahul Gandhi in his letter to Thakur.

The existing turf is worn out and needs to be replaced and relayed, he added.

Reacting to Gandhi’s request, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said that it was true that the turf needed to be replaced. He said the SAI should do the needful.