Mumbai: DCM Sunetra Pawar, who also holds the Sports and Youth Welfare portfolio, on Wednesday directed that toilets, changing rooms, lighting, and CCTV facilities be made mandatory at every sports ground in the state. Pawar said women athletes from Maharashtra are performing remarkably at the national and international levels in various sports. To provide them with a safer, more dignified, encouraging environment, a state-level unified policy should be prepared for the development of sports grounds in the state, along with setting up model toilets, adequate lighting, separate changing rooms, and CCTV systems for security at every sports ground,Pawar held a meeting after the issue was raised during the state legislature’s budget session by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Milind Narvekar. Narvekar said the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is committed to the development of women’s cricket and is ready to cooperate and take the initiative to build and regularly maintain toilets for women players at cricket grounds in Mumbai.“It is imperative to provide these basic facilities urgently to promote the development of women’s sports and attract more girls to sports. Providing a dignified, safe, and clean environment for female athletes is not just a matter of building facilities, but a significant investment in Maharashtra’s sports ecosystem. Govt should implement a special scheme to provide separate, safe, and clean toilets, changing rooms, and clean drinking water facilities for women athletes in all sports grounds, sports complexes, and training centers in the state. Municipalities in cities, and Zilla Parishads in rural areas, should take the initiative and provide the necessary funds and machinery. Also, separate funds should be provided for such facilities and their regular maintenance should be ensured,” Narvekar said in a letter to Sunetra Pawar.Pawar also directed that all the departments concerned should work in coordination to create the necessary facilities for women athletes at all the sports grounds in the state, and that an action plan should be prepared and implemented effectively in this regard.Pawar said various schemes are being implemented by the govt to encourage women athletes in the state. “Necessary facilities and provisions are being made to provide women with a safe and capable environment. To boost the sports sector, competent infrastructure, quality training system, financial support, nutrition, guidance of coaches, safe environment and social acceptance are very important. State govt has decided to make comprehensive reforms in the sports sector and has adopted a player-centric approach through the new sports policy. Various initiatives are being implemented to provide opportunities to athletes from rural areas to the international level. If women athletes are provided with the necessary basic facilities at the sports grounds, their participation and performance will improve further,” Pawar said.
