Chandrapur: Actor
Aamir Khan, who is actively involved in many social initiatives, has agreed to lend his support to Mission Shakti, aimed at grooming tribal students in international sports disciplines with an eye on 2024 Olympics, being implemented in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts.
The actor’s consent came during his meeting with state finance and planning minister Sudhir Mungantiwar recently.
Mungantiwar also informed the actor about the successful summit of Mount Everest by tribal ashram shala students of Chandrapur, who achieved the feat of scaling the tallest mountain in the world in their first attempt.
He briefed Khan about Mission Shakti, an innovative project to train students from the two tribal-dominated districts in six international games with focus on their selection for 2024 Olympics. The minister informed that construction of sports complexes at every tehsil will be completed by December this year. A special sports complex is coming up at Ballarpur that will have all modern facilities to train the students in six games — weightlifting, archery, shooting, swimming, volleyball and gymnastics.
Mungantiwar said students having talent and physical fitness in these sports will be selected through rigorous selection process. While the students will get necessary educational facilities, they will be provided with international standard training in the related sports under Mission Shakti. He claimed that the training of the students will commence this year with focus on preparing them for participation in 2024 Olympic games. He exuded confidence that under Mission Shakti, the two districts will surely produce Olympic-level athletes in the six years to come.
Sources in Mungantiwar’s office said the actor was keen to know about wildlife and forest riches, extensive natural resources, mining and tourism opportunities in Chandrapur. Aamir also agreed to participate in Mission Shakti and promised to visit Chandrapur soon to promote the initiative.
