Top Railways Basketball Courts to be demolished?
Railways basketball courts, as part of larger Railways sports complexes, have been identified across India for sale to private players.
As reported in The Hindu earlier today, facing a crash crunch, the Railway Board has identified 15 of its prime located sports facilities for "techno-economic studies for commercial development."
The facilities identified include:
Railway Sports Complex in DLW (Varanasi), Chennai, Kolkata, Raebareli, Maligaon (Guwahati), Kapurthala and Secunderabad
Indoor Stadium at Parel, Mumbai and Patna
Railway Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Bahala (Kolkata) and Mahalaxmi (Mumbai)
Gorakhpur Stadium
Among these facilities, DLW (Varanasi), Chennai, Kapurthala, Guwahati and Indoor Stadium at Parel, Mumbai are especially known for their basketball activities.
Basketball teams such as Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), Integrated Coach Factory (Chennai) and North East Railway (Guwahati) are expected to be affected by this potential decision.
Indian Railways basketball teams, especially in the women's division, have been the top-performing teams in the Senior National Championship. Some of the top women's stars like Geethu Anna Rahul (Arjuna Awardee), Anitha Pauldurai (Padma Shri) and Aparna Ghosh (Dhyan Chand awardee) are Railway employees. Overall, Railways is among the top recruiters (by volume) for basketball talent in the country.
As reported in The Hindu, the All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) has opposed this move, and it remains to be seen if the move will be revoked.
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