Jayalalithaa gives big push for sports
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday announced a slew of measures to improve sports facilities in the State. She announced several measures, including a state-level chief minister’s badminton cup, creation of posts for trainers and construction of two international-level swimming pools at Namakkal and Tiruvallur.
Jayalalithaa has sanctioned Rs two crore for establishing the state-of-the-art swimming pools at a cost of Rs1 crore each. According to an official release, Jayalalithaa ordered the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) to conduct a state-level chief minister’s cup for ball badminton, similar to tournaments being organised by SDAT for other sports, and sanctioned Rs10 lakh for the purpose.
She ordered the installation of four high mast lights and two 75 KVA diesel generators at the Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore, costing Rs1.56 crore, for the conduct of day-and-night matches. The release further added that 80 posts of coach would be created to encourage sportspersons to compete in national and international level events. This would be in addition to 139 existing posts.