Dehradun: Addressing the National Sports Day – 2025, function organized at the Multipurpose Sports Hall Parade Ground on the occasion of Major Dhyanchand Jayanti on Friday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that sports and sportsmanship provide energy, discipline and inspiration to the society. He said that Major Dhyanchand introduced the whole world to the sports power of India with the magic of his stick. He even told Hitler what patriotism is. Following his ideals, today under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our country is also becoming a global sports power, in this Uttarakhand has also geared up to play its role. He said that the Prime Minister is trying to encourage sports culture in the country through programs like “Khelo India” and “Fit India Movement”. Today our players do not play only to participate in any competition but enter the field with the resolve to win and wave the tricolor. If we look at the examples of recent years, while Neeraj Chopra created history by winning the gold medal in javelin throw in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the men’s hockey team won the bronze medal after 41 years. Similarly, in the Paris Olympics, Neeraj Chopra won the silver medal, Manu Bhaker won two bronze medals, Swapnil Kusle and Aman Sehrawat won one bronze medal each and the men’s hockey team brought glory to India by winning its second consecutive bronze medal. In the recently held Asian Athletics Championship, Jyoti Yarajji, Gulveer Singh and Avinash Sable have raised the flag of India by winning gold medals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased the sports budget three times.
Devbhoomi becomes Khelbhoomi
The Chief Minister said that the grand and successful organization of the 38th National Games held in Uttarakhand has paved the way to establish Uttarakhand as “Devbhoomi” as well as “Khelbhoomi”. In this year’s National Games, our players created history by winning 103 medals and securing 7th position in the National Games for the first time. Now world-class sports infrastructure has been developed in the state.
Uttarakhand has become capable of organizing not only national but also international sports competitions. Recently, the country’s only Olympic standard Himadri ice rink has been renovated. As a result, international level competition has been organized in this ice rink, which is not only a matter of pride for our state, but has also proved to be a milestone in ushering in a new era of winter sports in India.
Sports academies to be built in eight cities
The Chief Minister said that the state government is also going to implement a ‘Sports Legacy Plan’ soon, under which 23 sports academies will be established in eight major cities of the state. Every year 920 world-class athletes and 1000 other players will receive high level training in these academies. The state government is setting up Uttarakhand’s first sports university in Haldwani and a women’s sports college in Lohaghat. Under the new sports policy, medal winners at the national and international level are being given the facility of government jobs. Along with this, facilities like free training and education are also being provided to the players studying in residential sports colleges, and sports scholarships to encourage talented youth.
The state government is also working to encourage the emerging young players of the state through programs like ‘Chief Minister Sports Development Fund’, ‘Chief Minister Khiladi Protsahan Yojana’, ‘Chief Minister Udiyaman Khiladi Yojana’ and ‘Khel Kit Yojana’.
Players were honored
On this occasion, while awarding the medal winning players in various international competitions, the Chief Minister said that on the occasion of Sports Day, a total of more than 250 players and their coaches are being given honorarium of about Rs 16 crore by the state government. Among the players being honored, Mandeep Kaur, Amisha Rawat and Manoj Sarkar, who participated in the Paris Olympics 2024, have been given honorarium of Rs 50 lakh each. Similarly, Shaurya Saini and Abhinav Deswal, who brought glory to the country by winning gold medals in international competitions, were awarded with an honorarium of Rs 30 lakh each. Apart from this, an amount of about Rs 5.5 crore was also given to 3,900 players under the “Chief Minister Udiyaman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana” and 2,199 players under the “Chief Minister Protsahan Yojana” for their monthly scholarship.
Made two announcements
The CM said that India has started efforts to host the Commonwealth Games in the year 2030, so the Sports Department and young players will have to start preparing for it from now on. On this occasion, the Chief Minister announced to build an athletic synthetic track in the Parade Ground and lay synthetic football turf in the Pavilion Football Ground. On this occasion, he also provided out of turn appointment letters to the players who won medals in sports events, Mansi Negi in the Sports Department and Mohammad Arshad in the Police Department.
