SAI to open doors to common man

The scheme was initially designed to put the venues created for the Commonwealth Games to good use. Under it, common people can utilise the facilities by paying a nominal amount. “Already, 12,000 children have registered for the scheme in New Delhi and only through such schemes can we produce future champions,” Maken said, after inaugurating a shooting range and an elite national campers’ hostel at the Sports Authority of India here.

“Elite athletes won’t be using the facilities here all the time. When it is free, the infrastructure should be open for the citizens of the state,” said the minister, referring to the Bangalore centre specifically.

“We want to implement that scheme across the country and elaborate guidelines are being prepared so that common people can use the infrastructure by paying a small amount of money,” he said. The range, a compact one built at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore, is one of the best in the country and could soon host national camps, according to National Rifles Association secretary DK Shukla.

“The consumables weren’t ready, otherwise we would have had the camp from July 8 itself,” he said. The 50M and 25M ranges have lanes for 25 and 30 shooters respectively while the 10M range has 30 firing lanes.

Multi-purpose halls for yoga and fitness centres are the other notable features. “It’s nice to have such a range here. It will benefit us immensely,” said NP Deepa, one of the upcoming Karnataka shooters.