National Sports University given the green light, as Lok Sabha passes bill

On Friday, July 3, Lok Sabha passed the National Sports University Bill, giving the go-ahead to set up first of its kind Sports University in India. The unique university will be established in Manipur. Proposed to set up in Manipur, the National Sports University will have three other outlying campuses in Lucknow, Guwahati, and Mohali. The foundations of the university were laid on March 16 of this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has always been a promoter of sports and fitness. Even though universities exist in India who offer courses about sports; the NSU will be the first Central University focusing solely on sports education. The establishment of a full-fledged sports university has been looked upon for a long time now. It seems that the dream will finally come true as the Bill regarding the NSU was eventually passed on Friday. The statement of objects and reasons of the bill read as follows,

"Apart from the academic programmes and research, the university and its Outlying Campuses will impart training to elite athletes, sports officials, referees and umpires and evolve as centres of excellence in the various discipline of sports." Furthermore, the Government of India has signed an agreement with the University of Canberra and Victoria University, to help them develop the curriculum and set up facilities for the NSU. Addressing the Lok Sabha, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore remarked that the university would promote sports coaching and research. He went on to assure everybody present, that the vice-chancellor of the university would themselves be a sportsperson, as would be the academic council. There were some concerns regarding the raising of funds, as the Bill was being debated. However, Rathore ensured the House that all medal winners from India were funded by the National Sports Development Fund and any citizen of India willing to contribute. With the Bill passed, a significant obstacle in the way of the establishment of the National Sports University has been removed. The foundations for the university were already laid by the Prime Minister back in March. Furthermore, Okram Ibobi Singh-led Congress government had allocated around 340 acres of land for the National Sports University to be established some 20-odd km from capital Imphal near the district of Koutruk. Finally, the government can work towards launching the first full-fledged batch of the NSU.

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