OdishaPlus Bureau
Odisha has been awarded as “Top State” for promoting Sports during the recently concluded India Sports Summit.
Secretary Sports Vishal Dev received the Award in the National Meet held to promote the ‘Fit India Movement.’Receiving the award, Dev said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is promoting sports in a big way and the State Government is making all-out efforts to turn Odisha as the Global Sports Hub.
In fact, the State Government is extending all possible support to make Bhubaneswar the Sports Capital of India, he said.
Notably, an allocation of Rs 266.31 crore was made for the Sports and Youth Services Department in the 2019-20 Annual Budget.
The Department of Sports and Youth Affairs has created a different image by hosting back-to-back international events here. Dev said there is huge scope and potential of Fit India that can be leveraged if we focus on the rural- 70 Percent of our population lives in villages.
There needs to be the inculcation of the culture of sports through a number of initiatives in the rural. Department of Sports and Youth Affairs is giving more emphasis on the development of rural sports and talent squatting.
Sundargarh district is the cradle of hockey, and this tribal district has produced many national and international standard hockey players. Rural Zones of Ganjam and Puri districts are known for weightlifting and wrestling respectively.
With rural pockets having hidden talents that are being explored in the near future, State Government plans to set up four sports centers in four cities to support the new talents.
