Punjab CM Amarinder SinghPunjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will lay the foundation stone of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University (MBSPSU) at village Sidhuwal in Patiala on October 25, state Sport Minister Rana Gurmit Sodhi Friday said. The sports university, which recently completed its one year of functioning, will have the new campus built on 92.7 acres of land with a budget of close to Rs 500 crore. The campus on Patiala-Badson road will come up adjacent to Rajiv Gandhi National Law University.
“The architectural plan of the university has been prepared by chief architect, PWD, Punjab. It will be a modern campus with emphasis on promoting education in sports sciences, sports technology, sports management and sports coaching at par with international standards. The university is the brainchild of CM Amarinder Singh. It will be an educational institute of International eminence,” said Sodhi while addressing a press conference here.
The Punjab Cabinet last year had approved the Punjab Sports University Ordinance for the establishment of the MBS Punjab Sports University. The first academic session of the university was launched in September last year. The university has been operating from campus of Gursewak Physical Education College, Patiala while its administrative office is operating from Mohindra Kothi, Patiala. The university currently offers Bachelor of Physical Education (BPES) and PG Diploma in Yoga. A total of four courses namely BPES(First and Second year), MSC Yoga and PG Diploma in Yoga will start from this session. “UGC officially recognised MBS Punjab Sports University on September 9 last year. The university will help the state maintain its sporting heritage and culture. The new campus will have astro-turf hockey grounds apart from athletic stadium, shooting-archery range, indoor multi-purpose halls for boxing and wrestling and other sports. It will also have specialised scientific labs for sports science and biomechanics courses. It will also have a museum showcasing the sporting glory, tradition and heritage of Punjab,” added Sodhi.
Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra along with Olympians Ajit Singh and Prabhjot Singh and Lt Gen (Retd) Dr Jagbir Singh Cheema, Vice-Chancellor, MBSPSU and DPS Kharbanda, Director Sports Punjab, were present during the press conference. “Setting up of the specialised sports university will prove to be a game changer and would act not only as an institution providing state of the art training and education in sports but would also act as an inspiration for the youngsters from Punjab and country,” said Bindra.