Minister for Health and Medical Education, Bali Bhagat today said that Government is paying special focus on promotion of sports activities in the State by way of creating sports related infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.The Minister was speaking after handing over sports kits to 32 outstanding players selected for undergoing eight week “Special Certificate Course” in different sports under Prime Minister Package at National Institute of Sports Patiala (Punjab). Later, the Minister also flagged off the group of sportsmen selected for training course which is being sponsored by J&K State Sports Council here today. Mr. Bali said that all out efforts are being made to promote and revive Sports activities and train the local players for national and international events in athletics, boxing and gymnastic. He said to achieve this objective Sports Authority of India has established two training centres one each at Srinagar and Jammu to boost the sports activities in the State.Mr. Bali said that there is no dearth of talent in the state but the need of the hour is to harness the potential of the youth in a right direction.
He said that there are a large number of talented sportsmen in the state who can make a mark at national and international level.Divisional Sports Officer, Rajan Sharma, informed the Minister that the group of sportsmen shall be specialized in their respective field at NIS and after completing this course they will impart training to the budding players of the state, which will definitely help to raise the standard of sports in J&K. In addition to this, these specially trained players would contribute towards organizing and managing the championships in their respective disciplines.In the first phase, the training course is being sponsored for Athletics, Boxing, Fencing, Gymnastics, Wushu, Weightlifting, Yoga, Table Tennis and Hockey; he said adding courses for other sports would be sponsored in the following phases. The Minister congratulated the players who are going to participate in this two month special certificate course in Sports activities.Among others, Special Assistant to Sports Minister Anil Sharma, Joint Secretary Sports Council Shiv Kumar Sharma, Executive Engineer R&B, Fencing International Player Rashid Ahmed, sports persons and senior officers of concerned department were also present on the occasion.