Chandigarh, June 5 (FN Agency) Describing Haryana as a land of champions in sports, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur said that hardly any other state has brought so many medals for the country.The soil of Haryana not only spews gold. Rather this land produces players like Sakshi Malik, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Babita Phogat. Here the farmer stands for the country in the field, the jawan on the border and the player in the field, he said while addressing the players from all over the country present on the official inauguration of 4th Khelo India Youth Games-2021 at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula on Saturday.He said that the vision of starting Khelo India Youth Games and India University Games is that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.He appreciated the hard work of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Haryana Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Sandeep Singh for organizing the 4th Khelo India Youth Games in Panchkula today.
Thakur said that more than 8,500 players and their accompanying officials and coaches would enjoy Haryana’s hospitality. He said that there are very good places to visit in Haryana, whenever you get time, you should definitely visit Haryana. It is said about Haryana that what is not found on Google is found in the rural areas of Haryana.He said that Haryana had won the first medal in the first edition of Khelo India. He appealed to the players to win maximum medals from the land of Haryana. Gold medal is not only made of gold but also of sweat, courage and hard work of the player.He said that in the 75 years of the country’s independence, we could not do as much as we should have done in the field of sports. He said that there was a time when players like Sandeep Singh and himself used to play and at that time they had to travel on trains without a reserved tickets, the grounds were also not good and they had to stay in Dharamshalas and school rooms.
Today, due to the Prime Minister’s vision, facilities are being provided to the players in the country to play in good sports grounds and stay in good hotels. Now the player has to focus only on his game. All the remaining responsibility rests with the central government. Elite athletes of recognized sports federations are given an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month by the central government. Apart from this, Veteran players of big sports federations are given Rs 6 lakh annually as pocket money.He said that 1,000 Khelo India venues are to be prepared across the country, out of which work is in progress on 475. Similarly, 4,900 players from 208 universities of the country participated in the University Games and about 8,000 players are participating in Khelo India as well.
It is the vision of the Prime Minister that maximum opportunities should be given to the young players.Haryana Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Sandeep Singh said that it is a matter of joy for the players and residents of Haryana that for the first time the State is hosting Khelo India Games on such a large scale. It is because of the sports policy of CM Manohar Lal Khattar and his efforts that Haryana has got the opportunity to host it.For this, he also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on behalf of the people of Haryana. He said that Khelo India is a platform that opens many windows of opportunities for the players. Here they are noticed by selectors, sports experts and technical staff of the country. He wished all the players all the best and wished them well for the medals.