Patna, June 7: Sport enthusiasts would be able to practise in inclement weather if the state government’s plans for them materialise.

They will have multi-purpose indoor stadiums at their doorstep for which the state department of art, culture and youth affairs has recently taken the initial steps. These proposed indoor stadiums, which would be the first of their kind in the state, will also come up in almost all the districts.

Sukhda Pandey, the minister of art, culture and youth affairs, said: “District-level indoor stadiums are proposed under Mukhyamantri Khel Vikas Yojana. Two categories of stadiums are proposed for different types of towns in the state. We have recently initiated the process of preparing project plans and cost estimates for the various indoor stadiums. After preparing these plans and estimates, respective tenders for indoor stadiums in the districts would be issued. The actual construction work is expected to start from the current financial year.”

Sources said the building construction department has been assigned to prepare the project plans and cost estimates for the proposed indoor stadiums although selection of the sites is not done yet.

Sport enthusiasts in the state, although delighted over the plans, are sceptical about timely completion of the work. Rajnish Kumar, a cricketer from Patna, said: “At present, there is hardly any promotion of sports in the state. There are no good quality sport establishments in the state and when it comes to government support, the management people mould the schemes for fulfilment of their vested interests. I believe neither the government nor the management authorities care about the welfare of sportspersons in the state. As far as the indoor stadiums are concerned, they are a good initiative of the government, as sportspersons would have an opportunity to practise and play even during adverse weather conditions. However, there are many incidents where sport projects have been stuck for long, for instance the Kankerbagh Sports Complex, which is under construction for over 25 years.”

Mukesh Raj, the secretary of Bihar Table Tennis Association, said: “This is just false propaganda. There is no planning by the state government to boost sports in the state and players are disappointed at the poor attitude of the authorities. Only some hard working players manage to reach the national-level but others are left struggling on improvising their skills owing to the lack of facilities. At present, we organise some small tournaments for table tennis players in Patna but it is not at all possible to organise national-level tournaments in the absence of large-scale establishments. Situations like this hinder the growth of the sport in the state.”

Meanwhile, Pandey also told The Telegraph about 184 outdoor stadiums under the Mukhyamantri Khel Vikas Yojana in the state, where work on a few stadiums is already complete. Sources said the outdoor stadiums, which are of three types — 300m and 400m track stadiums and football stadium, are being prepared from the block-level to the district-level.

Pandey added: “The condition of Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna at present is not satisfactory. The stadium is proposed to be developed into an international stadium, equipped with all modern amenities.”

“The proposal for indoor stadiums is good but we have been listening about such schemes for the past six years. Hardly any implementation can be seen at the ground-level. The state government says that they have constructed 170 outdoor stadiums but the sports scenario of the state would have turned upside down if they had succeeded in constructing only five such stadiums. All such claims are bogus and just raise the hopes of sportspersons of the city. Moin-ul-Haq, the biggest stadium of the state, is in a pretty bad shape for the past many years. The human resource factor in sports is also running into rough waters, as a sports officer of one district takes care of five districts. Such is the dismal condition of sports in Bihar and they talk about multi-crore projects when they cannot even make annual sport calendars,” said Mrityunjay Tiwari, the president of Bihar Players Association.