AMN / SPORTS DESK
Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the fourth edition of Khelo India Youth Games-2021’at Panchkula, Haryana on Saturday.
Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Youth Affairs Nisith Pramanik, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, State Ministers, MPs and MLAs were present on the occasion along with thousands of sportspersons from different states.
Addressing the gathering at the grand sports festival Home Minister Amit Shah said, he has no hesitation in calling Haryana, the capital of sports. He said the whole country is proud of Haryana’s sportspersons who won maximum medals for the country in the international events including in Olympics. Mr.Shah said, Khelo India is a ladder to take the Indian players at centre stage.
He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made India proud in every field in the last eight years and providing infrastructure for sports for sportspersons to concentrate on their games is part of that. Mr Shah said, the sports budget of the country was 866 crore rupees in 2014 which was increased to 1993 crore rupees in 2022. He said, it gave result, in Olympics, we had 2 medals in 2014 which increased to 7 in 2021 and Paralympics medals increased to 19 in 2021 from 4 in 2016. He also mentioned the progress in other international events. Union Home Minister lauded the Haryana Chief Minister for taking the state to new heights.
Mr. Shah said the Khelo India youth games will continue till 13th of June and the sportspersons will compete in 25 sports. He wished success to all the participants and gave a call to them to win medals for the country.
Earlier, the Home Minister accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of several projects. These include Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Government Medical College at Yamunanagar, Government Medical College at Kaithal and construction of raw water supply channel by Haryana to the 2800 MW Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna.
Earlier addressing the event Minister of Youth Affairs and sports Anurag Thakur said, the sports infrastructure had developed tremendously in the country due to efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, the sports facilities for players have increased manyfold. Mentioning his experience as a sportsman Mr.Thakur said, earlier there were minimum facilities for sportsmen. Now, there are 347 accredited sports academies. He said, Haryana is a land of champions which produced champions like Neeraj Chopra. He advised players to concentrate on their games and get victory.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh also addressed the event.
The entry of Jay and Vijay on Hum Hum theme song music followed by entry of regional mascot Dhakad, Torch relay and cultural presentation on Azadi Ka Amritmahotsav were the attractions of the gala evening.