Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment, Choudhary Lal Singh today insisted on aggressive promotion of sports activities across Jammu & Kashmir.Speaking during a function held here, the Minister said that government is all set to give a boost to the sports infrastructure across the State.The Minister appreciated Sports Department and Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council for announcing to establish football clubs in every village of the Valley. He asked to work in the same manner in order to revive hooky in the State. "The government is trying every bit to create world class sports facilities for the local talent to flourish. Our youth has already proved their mettle in the recent sports events at national and international levels," Singh said.The Minister said that was important that the energy of the youth is channelized towards the betterment of the society and the state.Lal Singh while interacting with the office bearers congratulated them on their commitment and dedication towards the sport. He exhorted upon the youth to focus on their goals and put in dedicated efforts to compete and excel at national and international levels. He asked them to channelize their energies in positive direction and create a niche for themselves in the field of sports.
He said that more and more hockey tournaments should be organized with an aim to is to promote the spirit of nationalism and the sport of hockey in the state. He said that such tournaments help to promote sports talent in the state and expressed hope that these young players will play and bring laurels for the state and country.Meanwhile former MLA, Kanta Andotra, has been unanimously elected president of Hockey Jammu and Kashmir.The other members elected to form the new team of office bearers of the sports organization are Sheikh Muhammad Maqbool as Senior Vice- President, S Ranbir Singh as Vice-President, Asima Ali as Vice-President, GS Bakshi as General Secretary.Speaking on the function, former member legislative assembly, Jammu and Kashmir, Kanta Andotra said that she will work to attract youth towards this old game. She said that politics should remain out of the sports. “Politics spoil the sports and it should remain away from the sports,” she said. “Our association will organize series of camps in different parts of J&K including inter-state competitions to revive the game of hockey,” she said.