STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said that sports Icons are the true inspiration for the youth of Jammu Kashmir and the efforts of the government to take sports to villages, far-flung and border areas have bridged the decades-old gap between talents and the opportunities.
The Lieutenant Governor was speaking at a function after felicitating the medal winners of National and International Competitions for the years 2021-22 and 2022-23 and congratulated all the athletes and coaches on their outstanding performances.
A total 368 sportspersons, from 17 disciplines, received special cash awards amounting to Rs 1.35 crore directly in their Bank accounts through DBT mode. Rs 12 lakh awarded to Aqsa Gulzar and Sohan Kamotra was awarded with Rs 8 lakh cash award, in Pencak Silat and Chess disciplines, respectively.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor inaugurated a State-of-the-Art Synthetic Football Turf costing Rs 4.83 Cr at Parade Ground, Jammu. He also laid the foundation stone of the Synthetic Hockey Field at Bandhurakh worth Rs 4.85 Cr.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have built modern sports infrastructure, providing world-class training and mentoring to athletes and all other supports to ensure J&K’s sportspersons are able to achieve excellence in national and international sporting events,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor extended his felicitations to the Para teams and women athletes for their remarkable feat in major sporting events.
He said, the recent successes in Asian Para Games, National Games, National School Games of athletes and players from J&K have kindled brighter hope of an upswing in performances in many more international events. Adequate sports infrastructure, new sports policy, upgradation in the quality of coaches, youth engagement drives at Panchayat Level, LG rolling trophy and various other initiatives will create a robust sports culture involving all sections and secure attractive career track for athletes, he said. A total of 702 sports projects have been completed in the last few years. Two athletic tracks, one each at Jammu University and Kashmir University; five synthetic hockey fields and two synthetic football fields have been constructed at Pulwama, Srinagar, Jammu, Poonch, Nagrota. Further, more athletic tracks, synthetic hockey and synthetic football fields are coming up at Jammu, Poonch, Sopore, Srinagar, Shopian, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Jagti Nagrota and Rajouri, the Lt Governor further added. The Lt Governor commended the endeavours of Sports Department, Sports Council and associations for promoting sports activities in Jammu Kashmir.
He also highlighted the commitment of J&K Administration towards the welfare of the sportspersons bringing laurels to the country and the Union Territory. We are determined to complete the recruitment process of sportspersons at the earliest, he added. The Lt Governor interacted with the sportspersons and handed over sports kits and equipments to the budding players. Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lt Governor; Sarmad Hafeez, Secretary, Youth Services & Sports; Nuzhat Gul, Secretary, J&K Sports Council; senior officials, eminent sports personalities and youth in large number were present.
