NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
The Sports University will be established at an estimated cost of about Rs 700 Crore and will be equipped with modern and state of the art sports infrastructure including synthetic Hockey ground, Football ground, Basketball / Volleyball / Handball / Kabaddi ground, Lawn tennis court, Gymnasium hall, Synthetic running stadium, Swimming pool, Multipurpose hall and a Cycling velodrome. The university will also house facilities for Shooting, Squash, Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Archery, Canoeing and Kayaking, among other facilities. The University will have the capacity of training 1,080 sports persons including 540 female and 540 male sportspersons.
The Prime Minister remembered Major Dhyan Chand who was active in Meerut. A few months back, the Centre had renamed the country’s biggest sports award after the sporting icon.
Modi highlighted that in the last few years, his government had given top priority to the Indian players to get four tools – resources, modern facilities for training, international exposure and transparency in selection. The Prime Minister stressed that for sports in the country to thrive, it is necessary that the youth should have faith in sports and should be encouraged to take up sports as a profession. “This is my resolve, and my dream too! I wish our youth to see sports like other professions”, he said.
Modi remarked that the government linked sports with employment. Schemes like Target Olympics Podium (TOPS) are providing all support to top sportspersons to compete at the highest level. Khelo India Abhiyan is recognizing talent very early and all support is being given to groom them for international level.India’s recent performance in Olympics and Para-Olympics, said the Prime Minister, is a proof of a new India’s rise in the play field. With the advent of sporting infrastructure in villages and small towns, there are a rising number of sportspersons from these towns.
The Prime Minister said in the new National Education Policy, priority has been given to sports. Sports have now been kept in the same category as science, commerce or other studies. Earlier sports were considered as extra curricular activities, but now sports schools will have it as a proper subject. The Prime Minister said that the sporting eco-system comprising sports, sports management, sports writing, sports psychology etc, creates new possibilities. He said this generates trust in the society that moving towards sports is the right decision. With resources, a sporting culture takes shape and Sports University will play a big role in this, he added.
