Delhi stadia should be used for academies: Dikshit

New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) The world class stadia built for
the Commonwealth Games in India's national capital Delhi could
now be used for training budding sportspersons.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said her
government is "seriously considering" setting up sports
academies to make use of the 15 stadia which were either
upgraded or built anew.
"We are considering that we must make academies here in
Delhi to use the infrastructure. We should seriously, very
seriously think of building academies here," she told PTI
journalists during an interaction here.
She was asked what the government was planning to do
with these stadia for which crores of rupees have been spent.
The government will have to act as a "catalyst" for
setting up such academies under whatever model these are set
up, Dikshit said.
"We have got a wonderful tennis stadium. Eight (tennis)
courts are not a small thing, so (we must) build up tennis
academies," she said.
She also talked about the stadia built for boxing,
cycling and other sports, which could be used for academies.
"But you know we should build them really well. I think
it should be done under the aegis of the Government," the
Chief Minister said.
Asked whether she favours the public-private-partnership
(PPP) model, she responded, "What model they are bringing them
up is not (an issue)."
In this context, she pointed out that Delhi has language
and cultural academies which are managed by the government,
but they have eminent members.
"To my mind broadly this should be the kind of pattern
we should have so that these stadia continue to be used. When
you made world-class infrastructure, we need to do it," she
said.