Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami presented Devbhoomi Uttarakhand Khel Ratna Award to badminton player Lakshya Sen for the year 2019-20 and athletics player Chandan Singh for the year 2020-21 in a program organized by the Sports Department at Parade Ground, New Multipurpose Sports Building, Dehradun on Friday. Awarded. Badminton coach Dhirendra Kumar Sen, Taekwondo coach Kamlesh Kumar Tiwari for the year 2020-21, and Archery coach Sandeep Kumar Duklan for the year 2021-22 were honored with the Devbhoomi Uttarakhand Dronacharya Award.
Along with this, the Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to athletics player Suresh Chandra Pandey for the year 2021-22 for his remarkable contribution in the field of sports. During this, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami honored 168 national level medal winning players and 42 coaches with cash prizes for the year 2021 and 2022. A total amount of Rs 2.08 crore was distributed to the players and coaches.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the youth players of Uttarakhand are bringing laurels to the state by participating in national and international competitions and winning medals. When a player is playing at the international level, the sentiments of the entire country are attached to him. Every possible effort is being made to promote sports in the state. “Chief Minister Udyam Khiladi Unnayan Yojana” has been started in the state. Sports scholarship is being given to 150 boys and 150 girls in each district, that is, a total of 3900 budding players of the state. It has also been decided to reintroduce sports quota in government jobs. In the new sports policy, efforts have been made to provide all possible facilities to the players.
The Chief Minister said that a new India, a powerful India and a prosperous India is being built under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India’s respect is increasing in the field of sports as well, wherever there is a playground in the world, today the tricolor of India is seen waving proudly. The Prime Minister has launched several new initiatives to promote sports in the country. Khelo India program is a best example of this thinking. Today, sports talents are being promoted at every level in the country and efforts are being made to provide better training facilities to them. When we set our goal and move forward on it, success definitely comes. He said that a target has been set to make Uttarakhand the leading state of the country by 2025, for this those who are working in the field will have to do their best.
Sports Minister Mrs. Rekha Arya said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state government has taken many decisions in the field of sports in one year. A new sports policy has been formulated in the state, in which every possible facility is being provided to the players. Traditional sports have also been included in the sports policy. An amount of Rs 1500 per month is being given to 3900 children in the age group of 8 to 14 years of the state under the Mukhyamantri Udiyaman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana. Uttarakhand will host the 38th National Games in 2024. MLA Khajan Das, Special Principal Secretary Sports Abhinav Kumar, Director Sports Jitendra Kumar Sonkar were present on the occasion.
