PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Sports minister Rekha Arya informed that over 1,000 applications have been received for admission to the Women’s Sports College in Lohaghat while chairing a meeting held at the secretariat on Thursday. She further said that if any meritorious girls were unable to apply due to a lack of information, they would be admitted at the college through spot trials. “A total of 16 positions have been created for the sports college and will be filled as soon as possible. The first session is set to begin on July 1,” she added.
During the meeting, Arya also directed that classes at the Sports University in Haldwani should commence during this session and all preparations must be completed in time.
She informed that officials have been instructed to expedite the process of providing out-of-turn jobs to athletes who won medals at the 38th National Games. The Sports minister indicated that a notification regarding this initiative would be issued this year and added that she has sent a letter to the chief minister requesting a meeting to facilitate the process.
Further, Arya emphasised the importance of preparing for the upcoming National Games by ensuring the selection of talented athletes, organising training camps and improving diet, accommodation and transportation facilities. She noted that an additional budget has been requested from the government for this purpose.
Arya also outlined plans to develop the State’s sports hostels into sports nurseries, with a pilot project scheduled to be launched this year.
Notably, after the meeting, the Sports minister said that following the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a “One District, One Sport” policy has been drawn up to promote various sports in Uttarakhand. Under this policy, one sport has been selected for each of the 13 districts. The selected sports are as follows: shooting for Dehradun, badminton for Almora, taekwondo for Bageshwar, race walk for Chamoli, football for Champawat, wrestling for Haridwar, modern pentathlon for Nainital, athletics (excluding race walking) for Pauri, boxing for Pithoragarh, canoeing and kayaking for Tehri, wushu for Rudraprayag, cycling for Udham Singh Nagar and kabaddi for Uttarkashi.
