New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS): Sports minister Jitendra Singh Tuesday inaugurated a Sports Authority of India (SAI) Extension centre and laid the foundation stone for an athletic track in the Punjab districts of Barnala and Sangrur respectively.

The SAI Extension Centre at S.D. College Campus in Barnala will be a boon for the athletes in and around the district.

Vijay Inder Singla, who is the local Member of Parliament from the Congress party, in a statement thanked his senior party colleague Jitendra Singh. He said that in addition to schemes like Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA), public-private partnerships are needed to establish sports in India.

Singla also thanked the minister for agreeing to provide basketball facilities (in addition to boxing and kabaddi) at SAI Extension Centre in Barnala.

The Congress MP also made a request for establishing a sports university with a strategic tie-up between the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in his constituency.