NEW DELHI: In a bid to promote sports among the youth in Jammu & Kashmir so as to keep them gainfully engaged, the Modi government has sanctioned grants-in-aid worth Rs 14.30 crore for block-level sports in the state under the Union sports ministry’s ‘Khelo India’ scheme.
An amount of Rs 10 lakh each will be spent under the scheme in all 143 blocks of J&K’s 22 districts, said a home ministry release. The Central grant will be used to provide support in terms of coaches, pieces of equipment, consumables, technical support and organising competitions, besides meeting boarding, lodging and travelling expenses for the participants.
A central government official said the purpose behind promoting sports among the state’s youth was to keep them busy, prevent them from leaning towards militancy and channelise their anger and aggression in a positive direction. The plan is to have a playground in each village and, if possible, a stadium at the
tehsil level.
Sports competitions will be organized with the Central funds, depending upon popularity of the games in a particular district. A district level committee chaired by deputy commissioner will implement this scheme. Superintendent of Police and District Representative of the J&K Sports Council will also be on this committee.
It may be recalled that implementation of ‘Khelo India’ scheme at the block level in all the 22 districts of the state was announced by the Union home minister
Rajnath Singh during his visit to J&K during June 7-8, 2018.