Guwahati, Feb. 7: The Assam government proposes to utilise the sports infrastructure at Sarusajai sports complex here for grooming sportspersons in the form of a state sports academy named after the state's first Arjuna awardee, Bhogeswar Barua.

In his budget speech at the Assembly today, finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government proposes "to establish one state-of-the-art sports facility named Arjun Bhogeswar Barua State Sports Academy for optimum utilisation of existing infrastructure that would benefit sportspersons and has earmarked Rs 5 crore for its creation. "Equipped with the latest sporting infrastructure, this academy will have accommodation facilities for our budding talent. I have proposed to allocate Rs 500 lakh in the current budget for this purpose," he said.

The infrastructure created for the 33rd National Games in 2007 has since being utilised only for national and international sports and non-sports purposes. The complex comprises an athletic stadium, a practice ground, an aquatics complex, an AC indoor stadium, a lawn bowls green, two boxing rings and a sports hostel.

This is the first time a sports facility in Assam is going to be named after a living sports personality.

A former army athlete, Barua bagged the 800 metre gold in the Bangkok Asian Games in 1966, which fetched him the Arjuna award.

Welcoming the proposal, the Northeast's first international woman athlete Tayabun Nisha said, "This is a great step that he has been accorded such an honour during his lifetime. I am particularly happy because an athlete has been honoured this way. This is going to be a big motivation for upcoming generations and hope the name itself will go a long way in grooming more Bhogeswar Baruas from Assam. But, merely setting up an academy won't help. There will have to be competent coaches, trainers and facilities for academic studies like a school."

Sarma also stated that the Rudra Singha sports complex in Dispur here, which houses the directorate of sports, would also be upgraded with a modern gym and swimming pool etc at a cost of Rs 20 crore.

Sarma also said he has allocated Rs 60 crore for the 2017-18 fiscal for the construction of three proposed state-of-the-art sports complex at Dibrugarh, Kamrup and Lakhimpur districts, which was announced in the last budget. The sports department has already proceeded with land identification for the complexes.

He further referred to the centrally funded Rs 20 crore Tikhor theme park at Jalukbari here, in memory of the 12th South Asian Games held here early last year, and the proposed Rs 50 lakh NCC academy at Jorhat.