Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh, today declared open the grand ‘Udhampur Olympics 2017’ which is being organized under Civic Action Programme of District Police.Legislators Pawan Kumar Gupta and Dina Nath Bhagat, IGP Jammu Danish Rana, DIG Udhampur–Reasi Range Nissar Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Niraj Kumar and SSP Udhampur Dr Shailendra Kumar Mishra were present during the opening ceremony of the grand event.Terming sports as a potent tool in channelizing youth energies in the right direction, the Deputy Chief Minister said games ensure a healthy mind and body for overall personality development. “Promotion of sports in all its aspects is indispensable for all round development of children and hence the government is determined to upgrade this field with all requisite facilities”, he maintained.Spelling out government’s initiatives aimed at giving new dimension to sports arena in the state, Dr Nirmal Singh expressed gratitude to the Centre for announcing a package of Rs 200 crore for promotion of sports in the state which would be utilized for construction of Indoor Sports Halls in all the districts of the state besides up-gradation of stadia.
Besides, the present dispensation is putting in its best efforts for providing all the facilities required for encouraging the sportsmanship among the budding players.The Dy CM also recognized and appreciated the girl’s sports talent which has brought laurels to the state and the country as well. He asked the concerned to encourage the sports skills of young girls of the state so that they too attain a good position in the world of sports.Dr Singh congratulated the District Police and District Administration for organizing such a mega sports event in the district and expressed the hope that such efforts would be carried forward with added spirit and enthusiasm.He also witnessed a Kabbaddi match and Kho-Kho match on the occasion and appreciated the enthusiasm shown by the young players.
A colourful cultural programme was also presented by the students of different educational institutions which received huge appreciation from the audience. The District Information Centre, Udhampur also organized a cultural event depicting the rich Dogra culture. The main attraction of the programme was the performance by the Dare Devils of Police Department who left the audience spell bound.Earlier, the SSP highlighted various sports events which are being organized on regular basis and informed that the Udhampur Olympics would include 13 different events under different categories such as Table Tennis, Cricket, Badminton, Volley Ball, Hand Ball, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Tug of War, Athletics etc. He said that the Mega Sports Event had seen the participation of more than 2200 participants and informed that more than 500 participants had participated in the various cultural programmes.Later, Dy CM distributed prizes among the winners of cultural events.ADC Avny Lavasa, ASP M. L. Kainth, Joint Director Planning Rakesh Jamwal, ACR Subhash Chander Dogra, PO- DRDA Dr Jagdish Chander Mehra, CEO Bishan Singh and other officers of District Administration and District Police besides teachers and large number of students attended the opening ceremony.