Patna: Bihar Public Service Commission's former chairman and retired IAS officer Shishir Sinha has been appointed the first vice-chancellor of Bihar Sports University-Rajgir, according to a notification issued by the state sports department on Saturday.
The chief minister appointed the vice-chancellor as per the provisions of Section 11(V) of the Bihar Sports University Act, 2021.
Earlier, in 1982, 1982-batch IAS officer Sinha joined as the chairman of the BPSC after seeking voluntary retirement from the government service (he was then serving as the state's development commissioner) on April 29, 2018, and continued in this post until July 19, 2020.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the state's first Sports Academy and Bihar Sports University at Rajgir on August 29, on the occasion of Sports Day celebrations.
The CM had announced that the sports university would enable Bihar to develop into a ‘sporting power' state. Bihar would be the sixth state in the country to have a full-fledged sports university after Gujarat, Punjab, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
He said the university is housed in the sprawling campus of the sports academy-cum-international stadium developed on more than 90 acres of land at Rajgir at an estimated cost of Rs 740 crore. He further pointed out that all sports-related institutes, training centres and colleges of physical education in Bihar will be affiliated with this new university.
With the establishment of this university, the players of the state will now get a better environment and basic sports infrastructure. It is noteworthy that due to the lack of basic facilities related to sports, many talented players of Bihar used to play for other states. With proper training, players of various sports in the state will get better facilities for the preparation of the Olympics and other international games. As the University Act provides for 33% reservation for women, the reservation will encourage more women towards sports and games, said an official of the sports department.