Governor N.N. Vohra inaugurated the “1st State Universities Sports Championship” at the University of Jammu here today. It could be recalled that the Governor, as Chancellor of Central, State and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University has been urging the Vice Chancellors to devote high attention to enabling the maximum number of their students to participate in games and sports. In this context Governor had a Resolution passed in the University Council of Jammu University for it to commence the pioneering role of co-ordinating Inter University Sports in the whole state and that this role could later rotate to other Universities, once the inter-university games get established. At today’s inaugural function there were over 700 sportsperson from 12 institutions viz the Central Universities of Kashmir and Jammu, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Islamic Universitiy of Science and Technology, University of Kashmir, Sher-e-Kashmir Universities of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir and Jammu, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan Jammu, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, National Institute of Technology- Srinagar and University of Jammu. Teams from all these institutions are participating in the 7 day Inter-Varsity Sports Championships. Governor inaugurated the Championship by unfurling the Championship Flag followed by a March Past by the 12 participating contingents.In this 7 day event the participating men and women teams will compete in 6 sports including Cricket, Volley ball, Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis, and Football.
Welcoming the participants to the Championship, Governor hoped that organization of this State level Inter Varsity Championship would provide the required impetus for promoting a healthy culture of sports in the State. He congratulated Prof. R.D. Sharma, Vice Chancellor of the University and Prof. Avtar Singh Jasrotia, Director, Directorate of Sports and Physical Education of the University, for organizing this important event.Emphasising the importance of extra-curricular activities for the balanced growth of students, Governor observed that sports should be given the same importance as academics and every youth must develop the skill to play one or other sport. He noted that participation in sports enable youth to inculcate the capacity for teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship which are crucial for a balanced personality. Governor advised the VC Prof. R.D. Sharma to ensure that teams from the recently established two Cluster Universities were also invited and also ensure participation of sportsperson from Leh and Kargil districts during next year’s Championship. He exhorted the Universities to enlarge their participation so that at least 1000 players representing their institutions should participate in the next year’s Championship.
Governor announced a grant of Rs. 1 lakh to the Jammu University for hosting this sports meet and the Governor’s Trophy to be awarded to the over-all winner of the Championship. He advised the VC to give attractive prizes to the winners and noted that for future Championships a suitably large corpus fund would be created for organizing the annual Championship in consultation with the Vice Chancellors of all the Universities.The Welcome Address was presented by Prof. R.D. Sharma, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu, and the Vote of Thanks was given by Prof. Keshav Sharma, Registrar of the University. Prof. Jasrotia, Director of the Directorate of Sports and Physical Education presented the Report regarding sports activities in the university and its future plans to build up sports related capacities in the University. Prof. Ashok Aima, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Deans, Rectors and students were among those present on the occasion.