Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, the CSR arm of the Rs 2.96 trillion Reliance Industries, owner of IPL team Mumbai Indians and the glamorous First Lady of India Inc., Nita Ambani (52) has apparently evinced interest in honing football talents of rural Jharkhand through the government's proposed Kamal Clubs for every panchayat in the state.
State sports, youth affairs and tourism minister Amar Kumar Bauri, who was in Jamshedpur on a personal visit, told the media at Circuit House today that Nita, who's also a Reliance Industries board member, had expressed an interest in Kamal Clubs and might visit Jharkhand soon.
Nita, wife of Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, also chairs the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which conducts the Indian Super League (ISL), a platform for grassroots football and talent-scouting across India.
The ISL grassroots programme reaches out to over a million children across the country, which makes it a good fit for the state's football plans under the proposed Kamal Clubs.
"We are in touch with Nita Ambaniji and will invite her to the state after the registration process of Kamal Clubs in all 4,402 panchayats in the state are over. We have already given her information about the concept of Kamal Clubs via e-mails and her support and presence would be crucial for the success of this project for rural youths," said the sports minister.
Elaborating on the nitty-gritty of the concept, Bauri said the Kamal Clubs, for which the state has earmarked around Rs 22 crore in the first year, would function under Sports Authority of Jharkhand (SAJ) and be registered under the Societies Registration Act from every panchayat of the state by June-end.
BDOs will elect ad hoc officials of Kamal Clubs for three years after consulting the respective elected Panchayat Raj Institution (PRI) members of each area. Every Kamal Club will form a bank account and submit its weekly report of its football activities to the SAJ.
"We will transfer money to each Kamal Club for kits, dress and football nets etc. We'll have attractive prize money for winners," said Bauri.
At the micro level, Kamal Clubs will form teams in revenue villages and hold inter-village contests. From here, panchayat level teams in every block will emerge and compete among themselves. Teams among blocks will compete with each other in each district, which would culminate in inter-district, state-level contests.
Strongly denying the name ( kamal or lotus) had anything to do with the election symbol of the state's ruling party BJP, Bauri said: "We selected the lotus not for political gains but because it is our national flower symbolising triumph and knowledge. Through football in Kamal Clubs, we aim to wean youths away from addiction, early marriage and crimes."
"Football is a game that can be played easily without needing much infrastructure at the rural level. It will build team spirit in rural youths and convince them to join the mainstream," he further said, underscoring the importance of sports in the rebel-hit hinterland.
Bauri added the sports department would also write to Tata Steel sports department to repair and use the Keenan Stadium. "We have heard the stadium is in a dilapidated state and seldom holds sports events. It has a glorious tradition and Tata Steel has to uphold it," Bauri said.
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