Sports and Youth Services Minister Punjab Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi said that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Government is going to construct world class sports stadiums in every block across the state to nurture the sports skills of the Punjabi Youth. He was here, on Thursday, to preside over the 59th annual sports meet of SD College Barnala. He said that the government has also decided to develop ‘Greenfields’ in the villages to prepare much needed nursery for various games. He added that these Greenfields would be developed on the land of those panchayats who will offer the required land.Mr. Sodhi said that he had also directed the officials of local sports department to prepare a detailed report of requirements of Barnala district and soon the funds will be released for the development of sports infrastructure. He also announced the grant of Rs. 2 lakh for the sports stadium of SD College.Sports minister said that the government has also identified 100 acres of land in Patiala to open a sports university which would also play a major role to boost games in the state.
He added that all the colleges of the field of physical education in Punjab would be affiliated with this university. He said that Punjab government has also enhanced the cash rewards upto 1 crore for medal winners and has also reserved 3 percent jobs for sports-persons in all the government departments, boards and corporations.He also met with the delegation of ministerial staff union and assured them that their demands have been taken up very seriously and soon the government would address all their issues.Meanwhile, former MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon also lauded the efforts of Punjab government and said that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has always paid heed to the demands of Barnala district. He added that several development works were on in Barnala district and soon many major projects will be announced for the betterment of residents.On this occasion, SSP Harjit Singh, ADC Ruhee Dugg, SDM Sandeep Kumar, SP Sukhdev Singh Virk, Surinder Kaur Balian, Roopi Kaur, Dr. Anish Parkash, Naresh Singla, Jatinder Nath Sharma among several others were also present.