Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated the 9th National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 at Ice Skating Rink, Kaza in Lahaul Spiti district today.Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that it was for the first time that National Level Ice Hockey Competition and Development Camp was being held in the State. He said that ice hockey was one of the most popular winter sports of the world. He said that this event would give an added boost to the tourism development in the region besides promoting ice hockey amongst the younger generation. He said that this sports is quite popular in Uttrakhand, Ladakh, Kashmir and other Himalayan states. He said that this sport would give big boost to tourism development in this land locked hinterland. He said that teams from Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, Ladakh, ITBP Ladakh, Chandigarh and Delhi were participating in this mega event.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the State Government has recently given approval to the Swaran Jayanti Sports Policy 2021 to give boost to sports activities in the State. He said that under this Policy three percent reservation would be provided to sportspersons in Government jobs and the diet money received by the players would be doubled. He said that under the new sports policy, a prize money of Rs. 3 crore would be given for winning a gold medal in Olympics, Winter Olympics or Para Olympics. He said that silver medalist will get Rs. 2 crore and the bronze medalist will get Rs. 1 crore. Along with this, Rs 15 lakh would be given for participating in the above games and Olympic, Asian, Commonwealth medal winners would be given pension and Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award holders would get monthly salary, he added.Jai Ram Thakur said that first Basic Ice Hockey ten days Coaching Camp was organized at Kaza in the year 2019 by State Youth Services and Sports Department, in collaboration with the Ladakh Women Ice Hockey Foundation. Apart from Spiti, children from Mandi and Kinnaur came to learn the nuances of ice hockey, he added.
Chief Minister said that the State Government has announced the High-Altitude Sports Center in Kaza with an estimated cost of Rs.16 crore. He said that Skate Boots have been provided by the Department of Youth Services and Sports for training the players at a cost of Rs. 27 lakhs and Ice rinks have been developed by the administration on a small scale in Lidang, Sagnam, Losar, Tabo, Hikmi. He announced Rs. 31,000 from his discretionary fund for the students of local school for their cultural performance. He also listened to public grievances at Kaza.First match of this event was played between Delhi and Himachal, in which Delhi won 4-0. In second match, Chandigarh won over Telengana 1-0.Tribal Development and Information Technology Minister Dr. Ram Lal Markanda while welcoming the Chief Minister said that the State Government has given special emphasis on development of tribal areas during the last four years. He said that adequate provision has been made in tribal budget and special focus was being laid on creating infrastructure in the tribal areas.President Himachal Pradesh Ice Hockey Association Abhay Dogra, General Secretary Rajat Malhotra, Chiefs of Five Main Gompas, Member TAC Rajinder Bodh, Vice Chairman Tayota Takpa, BJP Madal President Rakesh Kumar were present on the occasion among others.