New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The locations for establishing even two centres of excellence for sports out of 15 such proposed facilities in tribal-majority districts are yet to be finalized, according to a parliamentary committee report.

It slammed the government's "lackadaisical approach" in handling the project.

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The Tribal Affairs Ministry had in 2019 said it has identified 163 tribal districts having more than 25 per cent Scheduled Tribes population where such centres have to be established by 2022. During 2018-19 and 2019-20, 15 such centres shall be established, it said.

These centres of excellence aim to have specialised state-of-the-art facilities for one identified individual sport and one team sport.

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However, according to the report, the location for establishing two centres of excellence for sports out of the 15 such facilities proposed in tribal majority districts is yet to be finalized as the proposal in the matter has been received only from six States and others have now been asked to submit their proposals.

"The committee is not happy with the lackadaisical approach of the ministry in handling the Centres of Excellence Project.

"The committee felt that had the ministry conducted a proper study to examine the viability of the project and taken state governments into confidence before initiating the proposal, such hurdles would not have cropped in, at least, finalizing the location for establishing them," said the parliamentary committee report on social justice and empowerment tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday

Since the project is at a very preliminary stage, the panel said it strongly believes the budgetary allotment of Rs 5 crore may fall short if there is any further delay in finalizing the locations.

"Hence, the committee foresees serious shortcomings in budget allocations too. The panel, therefore, impressed upon the ministry to assess the shortcomings in the project as it is not moving forward at a desired pace and plug them at the preliminary level so that these centres come up smoothly," it said.

The committee said it would like the ministry to fix deadlines for the completion of each stage of the project to ensure that at least two targeted sports centres are completed in a time-bound manner.

It stressed that there is an urgent need to make available the best facilities to boost the performance of athletes from tribal belts who have been putting up outstanding shows at national and international levels.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)