 "Manohar Lal Khattar")
A sports academy will be set up in Haryana to train players from across the country, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said at the grand closing ceremony of the fourth edition of Khelo India Youth Games held in Panchkula on Monday evening.
He also said that a hostel to accommodate 200 players would be opened in Panchkula.
"To provide state-of-art sports infrastructure, a hostel will be opened in Panchkula with accommodation facility for 200 players. Along with providing international level facilities to the players, they will also be trained to become proficient in the game," Khattar said.
He also announced doubling the prize money for medal winners of Haryana in the Khelo India Youth Games-2021.
Rs 1 lakh would be given to the gold-medal winner, Rs 60,000 to the silver medal winner and Rs 40,000 to the bronze medal winner, the chief minister said.
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Earlier these amounts were fixed at Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 for the gold, silver and bronze medal winners respectively. He also said that Rs 5,000 will be given to all the players of Haryana who participated in the games.
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Home and Youth Affairs Nisith Pramanik, Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta and BJP's Ambala MP R L Kataria were among those present at the closing ceremony of the games.
Khattar said that organizing the 'Khelo India Youth Games' in Haryana was of utmost importance because the state has a distinct identity in the sports world, both nationally and internationally.
With Haryana becoming the new champion of Khelo India Youth Games-2021 by bagging 52 gold, 39 silver and 46 bronze medals, the chief minister said the results have proved that the state has immense sports talent.
The state government has worked to promote sports at the grassroot levels, he said.
As many as 1,100 sports Nurseries are being opened in the state to develop sports culture among the children. This will benefit about 25,000 budding players of the state, Khattar said.
On the occasion, Thakur congratulated the Haryana government for the successful organization of the Khelo India Youth Games and said that the 12 national records made during the games show how successful the event has been.
He said events like Khelo India have time and again been a testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of giving a platform to young and budding athletes to perform and showcase their talent.
The Centre endeavours to take traditional sports to the international level, Thakur said.
Governor Dattatreya said that this event brought laurels to the state and world-class sports facilities were made available to the players in Haryana, which would be used in the future to take their sports talent forward.
"The girls have not only performed better in every competition but have also broken many national records. I wish them all the best," he added.
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