54th Meeting of J&K Sports Council held – Mufti orders repair of playgrounds, itinerary for sporting events
Describing sports as an effective but underutilized tool, Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, today emphasized upon broadening the scope of sports activities to achieve excellence and enhance ability of our youth in competing at all major events, in particular National Games.
He also issued directions to J&K Sports Council for carrying out speedy repairs of playgrounds and sports infrastructure which had been badly damaged in last year’s floods so that gaming activities could be started in earnest.
The Chief Minister passed these directions while chairing the 54th meeting of the J&K Sports Council, here today. This is the first meeting of the Council in more than two-and-a-half years with the last meeting convened on February 19, 2013, an official handout said.
Minister for IT, Youth Services & Sports & Technical Education, Imran Raza Ansari, MLA, Bandipora, Usman Majeed, Principal Secretary, Planning & Development, B R Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B B Vyas, Commissioner Secretary, Finance, Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Secretary, Technical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Hirdesh Kumar, besides nominated Members of J&K Sports Council attended the meeting.
The Chief Minister, who is also the President of the Council, stressed upon the concerned authorities for active involvement of Deputy Commissioners in organizing sporting events in their respective districts. He also highlighted the need to engage trained coaches who can work with talented youngsters to hone their skills and prepare them better at the cutting edge level of sports, handout further read.
Asking the Sports Council to make a fresh beginning and focus on upkeep of existing infrastructure, the Chief Minister said a full-time Secretary of the Sports Council will posted soon.
He issued directions to Secretary, Youth Services & Sports, for preparing an itinerary of tournaments to be held at school, college and district levels so that talent of our youth in various disciplines is brought into limelight. “The Government will recognize the flair of our youngsters for sports and honour all those who distinguish themselves during these tourneys,” he stated.
Mufti also directed the Council to conceive a plan for establishing a Sports Academy that will work towards motivating young athletes to achieve excellence in the field of sports by offering them state-of-the-art facilities, handout added.
