Former footballer Sarat Dutta addresses the gathering at RG Baruah sports complex in Guwahati on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Oct. 17: Dispur today awarded scholarships to 725 sportspersons of Assam on State Sports Day at the R.G. Baruah sports complex here.

The day, which marks the birth anniversary of Radha Govinda Baruah, was jointly observed by the directorate of sports and board of sports, Assam.

Of the 725 sportspersons who received scholarships, 133 were from Kamrup district.

The scholarships were given for their performance at the international, national and state levels respectively.

Sportspersons in the international category were offered scholarships of Rs 50,000 each while those in the national category received Rs 8,400 each.

Players in the state category received Rs 6,000 each.

Among those present at the function were veteran sports organiser Premodhar Sarma, former state captain of the 1955 Santosh Trophy team Sarat Dutta, president of Guwahati Sports Association Rana Goswami and regional director, Sports Authority of India, Meena Bora.

Recalling R.G. Baruah’s contributions and how Nehru Stadium became a reality despite all odds, Sarma said, “It was R.G. Baruah who thought of something like this (stadium). At that time, it wasn’t easy to build one. But his untiring efforts paved the way for an infrastructure where we stand today.”

“The area where the stadium stands today was nothing but a dumping ground then. He (RG) used to supervise all the activities,” said Dutta.

GSA president Goswami spoke of how people thronged the venue to watch Dara Singh and King Kong fight. “People thronged Nehru Stadium in large numbers to watch the fight, which was a fund-raiser,” he said.