National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) of Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports signed MoU with Coal India Limited in presence of Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur on Tuesday in New Delhi for the contribution of Rs 75 cr by CIL towards NSDF as part of CSR.
The Minister of State for YAS Nisith Pramanik, Secretary of Department of Sports Ravi Mittal and officers of Coal India Lmt also graced the event. During his address, Anurag Thakur said that the valuable contribution by Coal India to NSDF has come at an appropriate time in the backdrop of unprecedented performance by the sportspersons at the recent Olympics and Paralympics.
The Sports Minister also congratulated the Indian athletes for their best ever performance at the Paralympics and for winning 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Appreciating the initiative of Coal India, the Minister added that with this a part of the funds generated from the mining of coal will go to chisel the sportspersons into ‘diamonds’ that deliver a podium finish.
Giving more details, Anurag Thakur said that the fund is used to promote sports in general and specific sports disciplines for achieving excellence at the national and international level. The fund is also judiciously applied for modernisation and development of infrastructure. In the previous years, a number of PSUs have generously contributed to NSDF.
“The sports academies under SAI and LNIPE needed more hostels for the benefit of athletes. Coal India Ltd’s endeavour to contribute substantial funds of Rs 75 crore towards construction of three hostels for sports athletes will bring ease of training and enhanced facilities,” Thakur said in the PIB release.
Thakur further said that the signing of MOU for construction of three hostels at SAI academies at Bangalore, Bhopal and LNIPE Gwalior will strengthen the bond between the Department of Sports / NSDF and Coal India Ltd.
The Minister proposed that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Coal India Limited should jointly set up a Sports Academy for furthering the cause of sporting culture in the country. National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) of Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports signed MoU with Coal India Limited in presence of Anurag Singh Thakur on Tuesday.