Giving a massive impetus to the sports ecosystem on theeve of National Sports Day, Punjab Sports and Youth Affairs Minister RanaGurmit Singh Sodhi on Saturday laid the foundation stone of three sportsinfrastructure projects worth Rs 7.75 crore besides inaugurating AstroTurf atlocal Lyallpur Khalsa College in Jalandhar.
Accompanied by MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh, MLAs RajinderBeri, Avtar Henry Junior, Mayor Jagdish Raj Raja, MC Councillor Sunita Rinku,Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi firstly laid the foundation stone of project ofrenovating table tennis hall in the Hansraj stadium which would cost Rs 1crore. He said under the project, LED lighting, new wooden floor, washrooms andchanging rooms along with new roof inside the hall would be ensured here withinnext few months.
The Minister later reached the sports college, known as anursery of international sportspersons and laid the foundation stone ofre-laying synthetic athletic track which would be developed of Rs 6.50 croreand up-gradation of the 50-meter swimming pool with Rs 25 lakh.
He said that this would be the first smart syntheticathletic track in Punjab which is being imported from Europe having affiliationof the World Athletic Federation. He said that that LED floodlights would alsobe installed here beside a football ground would also be constructed. Theexisting swimming pool would be converted with ultra-modern facility for theplayers. Later, the Minister also dedicated six-a-side hockey AstroTurf atlocal Lyallpur Khalsa College.
Addressing the gathering, Sodhi envisioned that the stateof the art sports infrastructure would go a long way in producing world-classplayers from the region. He said that the Punjab government is committed torestoring the glory of Jalandhar by developing world-class sportsinfrastructure in the city.
He stated that under the leadership of ChiefMinister Captain Amarinder Singh, Jalandhar would soon emerge as an excellenceof sports in the country adding the state government has already initiatedspecial project to uplift infrastructure at sports college besides launchingnew innovative courses here.
He added that the state government under the visionaryand dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has beenmarching ahead in the field of sports. He asserted that in the last fourand half years, it has undertaken specialized efforts to uplift the level ofsports in the state for which Punjab has come out with a new sports policy.
The Minister said that New Sports Policy focuses onsecuring a livelihood for the players, who bring laurels for the state andcountry in the field of sports, besides ensuring their holistic development.
He said that under the new policy, the amount of cashaward for the medal winners was increased and on August 12, the government hasdistributed cash awards worth Rs 28.30 crore among 20 Tokyo Olympians fromPunjab.
For the promotion of sports at the grassroots, heannounced to develop swimming pool and standard athletic tracks in eachdistrict and sub-divisional level besides added the department has alsoinitiated an international standard shooting range of 10-meter at SAS Nagar.
Meanwhile, the minister also had an interaction with theplayers of Indian Hockey team who recently brought laurels to country withtheir breathtaking performance at Tokyo Olympics. He stated that their victorywould keep motivating budding players by instilling a sense of love for sportsamong them.
Prominent among others present on the occasion includedAdditional Principal Secretary Sports Raj Kamal Chaudhry, Director Sports DPSKharbanda, Joint Director Sports Kartar Singh, District Sports Officer GurpreetSingh, Principal Layalpur Khalsa College Gurpinder Sungh Samra, Swimming CoachUmesh Sharma, General Secretary Punjab Tebal Tennis Association PankajSharma, President Jalandhar Table Tennis Association Viney Gupta, andSports Promotor Rana Tut, Surinder Bhapa.