Jammu Tawi, Aug 16: Jammu and Kashmir Administration has said that it is establishing state-of-art sports facilities across Jammu and Kashmir with an aim of taking sports to Panchayat level for budding sportspersons of the UT.
“Recently, sports policy has been introduced to make J&K a powerhouse in sports. Every kind of support is being extended to the local sportspersons who strive hard to make UT and the nation proud in different sports disciplines. The sports activities are being conducted throughout the year while infrastructure work is being executed on massive scale. The focus is not merely on activities like Cricket and Football but equal importance is being given to games like Volleyball, Kho-Kho, Kabaddi, Water and Winter Sports which were ignored in the past,” an official handout said.
Adm further said that Sports budget for Jammu and Kashmir is higher than biggest several states of the country and infrastructure is being augmented to highest level and J&K government is keen to provide platform to the youth.
Recently, Bakshi stadium which was in dilapidated condition duo to poor policies of earlier regimes was dedicated to public after being upgraded and revamped at a cost of Rs. 59 crores. “Bakshi Stadium has been a central place of youth for decades, nurturing many dreams and making local sportspersons famous all over the country. This Stadium infused the passion of sports into the lives of millions of people and the legacy has been passed to the new generation”, LG, Manoj Sinha said.
There were clear directions from the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to develop MA Stadium in Jammu as per ICC Standards and Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar as per FIFA Standards.
Recently Manoj Sinha inaugurated sports infrastructure projects worth Rs 18.10 cr and dedicated the new sports facilities to the local youth. The projects inaugurated include Synthetic Football Turf at Khel Gaon Nagrota worth Rs 5 cr; Mini Stadium at Bhour Camp, Chatha costing Rs 1 cr and Playfield at Purmandal at a cost of Rs 2 cr. The Mini Stadium at Bhour Camp will benefit 5000 youth by accommodating games like Cricket, Volleyball, Kabaddi.
Funded under CAPEX, JKIDFC, Khelo India, and PMDP, the inauguration and foundation laying of these projects marks the beginning of the next phase of modernization of sports infra in J&K.
The Government of India has been liberal in providing funds for Education and Sports in Jammu and Kashmir. The combined budget of education and sports of Jammu and Kashmir is Rs 2386 crores, which is way more than various bigger States and UTs across country
