Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Monday emphasized the need for encouraging extra-curricular activities in the State and nurturing the talent in this field from the early age.“Schools while concentrating on making the children academically excellent should devote due attention to imbibe moral education in them and flourish their natural talent in different fields of art, culture and sports”, he said and underscored the importance of identifying the talent at the young age and facilitating them to catch the opportunities to prove their mettle and ability at the State and the National levels.The Chief Minister said this while interacting with the young singer Anmol Jaswal of Jammu who has won the National Junior Indian Idol first runners-up award in singing competition organized by Private Television Channel.
Omar Abdullah gave him a cheque for Rs. 51,000 to encourage him for receiving further training in the field and participating in other such National events. He prayed for best career and all success for the Master Anmol.Minister for Culture, Raman Bhalla who was also present on the occasion said that development of art, culture and sports activities is the focused area and various measures are in place to help nurture the talent in the field of extra-curricular activities.He said the Department of Culture is providing various platforms to children and youth to excel and take part in the State and National level events. He also congratulated the young boy for his noteworthy performance at the National level. He expressed the hope that he will continue to perform at the National level and earn laurels to the State.