Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said 23 sports academies will soon be established in the state under the ‘Sports Legacy Plan’. Inaugurating the ‘Sansad Khel Mahotsav’ at Rajiv Gandhi Navodaya Vidyalaya in Tapovan, Dhami said the state government is making consistent efforts to promote a sports culture, and Uttarakhand is emerging among leading states in terms of world-class sports infrastructure.
“Under the ‘Sports Legacy Plan’, 23 sports academies will be established in eight major cities of the state, where 920 world-class athletes and 1,000 other players will receive high-level training every year,” he said. The chief minister said work is also progressing rapidly on establishing the state’s first sports university in Haldwani and a women’s sports college in Lohaghat.
Recalling the state’s achievement of 103 medals in the 38th National Games, Dhami said a new sports policy has been implemented to ensure the holistic development of sports and encourage athletes. He said medal-winning players at national and international levels are being provided government jobs, while athletes are being honoured with the Uttarakhand Khel Ratna Award and the Himalaya Khel Ratna Award.
Dhami added that the four per cent sports quota in government services has been reinstated. He also said the ‘Sansad Khel Mahotsav’, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a nationwide initiative to identify and promote sports talent from rural to national levels. On the occasion, Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal said India’s global sports performance has been commendable and announced funding from his MPLADS fund for volleyball and badminton courts and mess furniture at the Tapovan school.
