(a) the number of sports institutions functioning at present or proposed to be set-up in the country during Ninth Plan Period to promote sports amongst women, State-wise;
(b) whether new locations have been identified for setting up of these institutions;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the efforts being made by the Government to search the new talent ?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS
(SHRI SYED SHAHNAWAZ HUSSAIN)
(a) to (c) : There is no sports institution set up exclusively for promotion of sports amongst women by the Govt. However, Sports Authority of India, an Autonomous Organisation, fully funded by the Government has the following institutions which also caters to the requirement of Women:-
The Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports at Patiala (Punjab) is functioning as the premier academic institution of sports with its Academic
Divisions at Regional Centres, Bangalore (Karnataka) and Calcutta (West Bengal) also. It also serves as the main centre for training of outstanding Indian sportspersons (both men and women), for international competitions. Additionally, SAI has six Regional Centres and Sub-Centre for various zones, located at the following places :-
i. SAI Netaji Subhash Northern Centre, Chandigarh
ii. SAI Netaji Subhash Western Centre, Gandhinagar
iii. SAI Netaji Subhash Central Centre, Delhi
iv. SAI Netaji Subhash Southern Centre, Bangalore
v. SAI Netaji Subhash Eastern Centre, Calcutta
vi. SAI Netaji North-Eastern Centre, Imphal
vii. SAI Netaji Subhash North-Eastern Sub-Centre, Guwahati
Presently, there are no plans to set up more similar institutes as the NS NIS Patiala and Regional Centre have sufficient capacity to cater to the academic and training requirements of elite sports persons, including women.
In addition to the above, the Sports Authority of India implements several schemes through which it promotes sports amongst both men and women. Details of these schemes are as follows :-
a) National Sports Talent Contest - 29 schools and 2 Akharas
b) Army Boys Sports Company - 8 Centres
c) Special Area Games - 7 Centres and 1 Associated Centre
d) SAI Training Centres - 43 Centres
e) Centres of Excellence - 6 Centres
However, there are some Centres which are exclusively for girls. They are located at :-
i) STC Madekeri (Karnataka)
ii) STC Chandigarh (UT)
iii) STC Dharamshala (HP)
iv) Mahadevi Kany Pathshala Inter College (UP)
v) Mt. Carmel Convent, Kottayam (Kerala)
vi) Govt. Girls High School, Ranchi (Bihar)
vii) Govt. Girls Hr. Sec. School, Krishnagar (West Bengal)
viii)St. Mary G.H. School, Sundergarh
ix)Downhill G.H. School, Kurseong
x)Maharani Lakshmibai Multi-purpose H.S., Jabalpur (MP)
xi)Govt. Girls Sr. Sec. School, Jallandhar (Punjab)
In addition, some locations have been identified for setting up of Centres to promote sports amongst women. These are :-
a) STC Kotwar (UP)
b) STC Badal (Punjab)
c) STC Lucknow (UP) under consideration
d) SAG Agartala (Tripura) under consideration
(d) : Wide publicity is being given through newspapers to various SAI Schemes for attracting talented sports persons including girls.
In order to improve the ratio between boys and girls trainees, it is planned to increase the proportion of girls, to improve the ratio from the existing 6:1 to 2:1.
In addition to the schemes mentioned at above, talent scouting and sports promotion amongst women is also being done through Govt. schemes i.e.
i) National Sports Festival for Women
ii) All India Rural Sports Tournament
iii) North East Sports Festival
The National Sports Festival for Women is exclusively focused on talent scouting and for promotion of sports amongst women. These objectives are achieved through competitions organised at District, State and National level. In order to increase the number of participants it is proposed to increase the number of competitive disciplines from the present 10 to 14. 1608 sportswomen participated in the National level competition of the festival held in 1999-2000.