Jammu and Kashmir Sports Minister Imran Raza Ansari recently said education, skill building and sports were means to empower the youth and the state government was making targeted efforts towards it.
He said this during a discussion in the Legislative Assembly on ‘Demand for Grants of Technical Education, Information Technology, Youth Services and Sports and allied departments’.
“Interventions that are being made, whether it be sports, skill development, technical education or information technology, are aimed at youth welfare by facilitating skill development, encouraging entrepreneurship, besides promoting sports and cultural exchanges,” the minister said.
He also informed that for promotion of youth services and sports, the state government has taken various steps to create world class sports facilities.
The minister informed that several competitions were held in the state and 85,955 players from Jammu and 1,38,540 from Kashmir, besides 1,878 players participated in the National School Games hosted by J-K.
“The department hosted the 62nd and 63rd National School Games, besides awarding sports scholarship worth Rs 27.65 lakh to 1,208 players who won medals in the 62nd National School Games,” the minister said.
He said that the department is organising football tournaments in 199 zones in which 54,702 youth have registered online.
Further, 109 development works for improvement of sports infrastructure in the state are being undertaken and additional projects for constructing 22 Indoor Sports Stadiums, one in each district, are also being finalised, the minister said.
He said that for further development of sports, the state sports council had engaged noted sports personalities.
Ansari informed that ITIs and polytechnics were witnessing almost 100 per cent admission and producing skilled manpower of about 25,000 people annually.