Kolkata, June 02: The Board of Cricket Control is meeting here to chalk out a plan to offer assistance to 12 states and union territories participating at a conclave of sports ministers and officials in a move to spread cricket to all parts of the country. "We will seek to know the kind of assistance they want for developing cricket infrastructure and the expertise they need to identify and groom the talents in those regions. A detailed plan of action will be drawn after the meeting," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said yesterday.
The board, which convened the meeting as part of its ambitious project christened `New Areas Development Programme`, has decided to bear all direct expenses such as cost of basic cricket practice equipment, fees and travel of coaches and consultants as well as ground equipment and fitness equipment, he said. "The basic objective is to spread the game to the remotest parts of the country. The conclave is part of our endeavour to this end," Dalmiya said.
The board has invited the sports ministers and sports secretaries of 12 states and union territories as also the Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Vikram Verma to attend the conclave. The states and union territories which would attend the interaction with office bearers of BCCI include Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Pondicherry and Sikkim. Bureau Report