Punjab Sports, Youth Services Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, on Wednesday, informed that a grant of Rs.7 crore has been approved for laying the athletic track at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium, Ferozepur.The Cabinet Minister said that to facilitate the players of the district and adjoining areas for the advancement in the field of sports, the state government had decided to lay synthetic athletic track at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium at Ferozepur, for which a grant of Rs.7 crore has been sanctioned under Khelo India Scheme. "The work for laying of the track would be started soon after completing the tender process", said the Minister, adding that with the construction of this track, not only athletes of Ferozepur district will get benefit, but sportspersons of the surrounding districts would also get a facility to honing their skill as this track would inspire youth to participate in sports.
Divulging further, Rana Sodhi further said that apart from this, hockey Astroturf was also being laid at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium, Ferozepur at a cost of Rs.5.5 crore. Besides this, the construction work of new sports stadiums and renovation of old sports stadiums in rural areas would be undertaken in the near future. He said, Principal Secretary K.Shiva Parshad, Director Sports Mr. D.P.S. Kharbanda, Deputy Commissioner Ferozepur Mr. Gurpal Singh Chahal, Deputy Director Mr. Sunil Kumar and Executive Engineer Mr. Sanjay Mahajan have been instructed to complete the work of Synthetic Track and Hockey Astroturf in a time bound manner.Sports Minister further added that every possible effort was being made by the sports department to promote sports and produce national and international level players. The Punjab Government has increased the amount of sports awards besides providing government jobs to national and international level sportspersons, he added, reiterating that the state government is fully committed to ensure high quality sports infrastructure in the state.