NE gets first anti-doping centre
Source: The Sangai Express

Dibrugarh, February 12 2016 : The Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Sarbananda Sonowal inau-gurated the region's first anti-doping centre at Dibrugarh Outdoor Stadium here on Thursday.

Sonowal said the centre, set up under the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), would help national and international sportspersons from the northeast.

"Our objective is to ensure dope-free sports in the country.

It's necessary to eradicate the menace completely.

The centre will implement the anti-doping rules laid down by World Anti-Doping Agency.

Education and research on doping will be promoted," Sonowal said.

Sonowal, who is BJP's chief ministerial candidate, also laid the foundation of a Rs 12-crore project to upgrade and modernize the outdoor stadium.

New galleries, a sports hostel, a media centre, an air-conditioned pavilion, new boundary walls, uninterrupted power supply facility, drainage, internal roads and parking facility will come up at the stadium.

The project, to be implemented under the National Sports Development Fund, will take two years to be completed.

A grant of Rs 5 crore has been sanctioned as the first instalment, the minister said.

Simultaneously, Rs 50 lakh will be spent for the renovation of the indoor stadium.

Sports organizer and vice-president of Dibrugarh Dis- trict Sports Association Debojit Dutta expressed hope that the newly-designed stadium would host national and international sports events.

"It was a long demand of sports lovers here.

Today is an important occasion for us," he said.

The outdoor stadium has hosted seven Ranji trophy matches over the years but was plagued by poor infrastructure.

The last Ranji match played here was on December 17, 2006, between Assam and Madhya Pradesh.

The minister, who was accompanied by Union sports secretary Rajiv Yadav, congratulated the Assam cricket team for qualifying for the Ranji Trophy semifinals for the first time.

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