In a bid to nurture sports talent in the state, the Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana will chalk out a 10-year vision document with the assistance of experts.

For this, the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs, Haryana has proposed to set up a Project Management Unit (PMU) which will have experienced and professionals in the field of sports, to help the Department in planning and executing the vision document.

The PMU will prepare the 10-year vision document including budget provisions, infrastructure standards of all greenfield and brownfield projects, proposals for greenfield projects wherever needed in the state. A gap analysis for sports infrastructure and a demand-supply analysis with special emphasis on Olympic sports will also be conducted in the state for preparing the vision document.

The State Government is looking to strengthen the grassroot sports ecosystem in Haryana and develop a mechanism amongst the identified levels of sports like sports nurseries, sports academies and centre of excellence following the stellar performance of state’s sportspersons at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

The Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also recently announced to conduct mapping in each district to ensure that necessary sports infrastructure is being accordingly developed in the state.

“A separate Project Management Unit will be established in the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs to prepare a 10-year vision document for sports development in Haryana. The proposed unit will comprise qualified and professional sports persons who will assist the Department in mapping all existing, on-going projects and upcoming sports infrastructure ( projects) in the state including of private and public sector,” said a senior official of the State Government while talking to The Pioneer.

The official said that apart from mapping of sports infrastructure, analysis of issues related to developing the external infrastructure such as approach road, power, water supply etc in such facilities will also be done. The Department will also explore a sustainable public-private partnership (PPP) model for development of sports facilities in the state, the official said.

The State Government aims to transform Haryana into a leading power hub in sports in the country by setting up cutting-edge training facilities comparable to world-class standards, the official added.

Notably, the country had last year racked up its best-ever Olympic (Tokyo) medal haul of seven, out of which three individual medal winners and two players in India's men hockey team belonged to Haryana state, known as a traditional powerhouse in sports like kabaddi, boxing and wrestling.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra from Haryana's Panipat district had created history in his Olympic debut becoming India’s first track and field medalist, and only the second individual gold medalist after Abhinav Bindra’s shooting gold for India in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Despite having only two percent of the country's population, 30 sportspersons (about 25 percent) from Haryana were part of the biggest ever Indian contingent of 127 at Olympics last year.

Similarly at the Paralympics held last year at Tokyo, the country had won the maximum number of 19 medals in various sports and six medals were won by five players from Haryana, which included two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

Under Haryana’s sports policy, the medallists at international sporting events are given  high monetary rewards, a job and a plot at concessional rates, in a bid to encourage youth to take up sports in the state.