Mumbai, Aug. 5 (PTI): Maharashtra may soon become the first state in the country to have public squash courts in each of its 33 districts.

Maharashtra Minister for marketing (Women and Child Development and Parliamentary affairs) Harshvardhan Patil conveyed his intention to fulfill this aim, after becoming the chief patron of the Mumbai-based NGO Indian Squash Professionals (ISP).

"I will do everything possible to see that the game is promoted widely in the state of Maharashtra. The need of the hour is to take the game of squash to the common public and hence my priority will be the construction of more public squash courts," he said at a media conference on Friday night.

At present there are three courts built by the state government in their district sports stadiums at Jalgaon, Nashik and Dhule.

We would strive to have at least one court for the public in every other district of Maharashtra, Patil said.

"There are also plans to start an academy for squash with six courts, in Mumbai Unviersity's Kalina campus, which has been allotted six acres of land to build 12 tennis courts or in MMRDA complex in Bandra or the Sports Authority of India complex in Kandivali," the minister said.

"I will try and allot land for Squash Rackets Association of Maharashtra and ISP for this purpose," Patil said.

The minister also promised to talk to the School Games Federation of India to urge them to introduce squash in schools in a big way.