16th JSRA Shooting Contest to be held in Asansol, WB
Mrituanjay Kumar
Ranchi
In a move to provide better facilities and amenities Jharkhand State Rifle Association (JSRA) will organize 16th JSRA Shooting Championship at Asansol in West Bengal (WB) due to improper conditions of shooting ranges of the State.
Talking to the Pioneer JSRA Secretary General Asansol, Uttam Chand said that it is known by all that the State does not have proper infrastructure to organise such a big event. Around 1500 shooters will participate in the event. Due to proper infrastructure and facilities, it was decided to organise the championship in a nearby city where the event could be properly organised. After the JSRA Championship the East Zone Shooting Championship to be held in Asansol which will provide better opportunity for Jharkhand’s shooters, he added.
Chand further said that some people are levelling baseless allegations that this championship will be organised in Asansol to give chance to shooters of West Bengal which is completely not possible because both the States-Jharkhand and West Bengal will lose affiliation of National Rifle Association (NRA). Due to NRI rule one shooter registered in one State can’t play from State and to do this the Shooter has to cancel registration in one State then he or she can be registered in another State,” he added.
The JSRA affiliated with the NRI and Olympic Association of India has been driving the growth of shooting sports in the State since 2008. With 156 affiliated district associations it regularly organise competitions at State, District and club level.
Meanwhile, several attempts made by the Pioneer to speak to officials of the Sports department on the issue remined futile.
It may be pertinent to mention here that just some days earlier Chief Minister Hemant Soren had conducted a surprise inspection of the Tikait Umrao Singh Shooting Range at Khelgaon in Ranchi and expressed strong displeasure over the poor condition of its infrastructure and maintenance. He directed officials to prepare and implement a time-bound plan for the comprehensive modernisation of the facility to provide world-class training to the state’s shooters.
During the inspection, the Chief Minister reviewed the condition of the 10-metre, 25-metre and 50-metre shooting ranges, along with the maintenance of infrastructure, availability of modern equipment, safety standards, training facilities and other amenities for athletes. He expressed dissatisfaction over the current state of the shooting complex and sought detailed explanations from officials while issuing several directions for immediate improvement. State Sports Minister Sudivya Kumar accompanied him during the visit.
