Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has directed officials to provide all necessary sports facilities to athletes to enhance their performance at national and international sports events. In a review meeting of the Sports Department on Thursday, the Chief Minister, who also holds the charge of the Sports Department, emphasised the importance of sports infrastructure maintenance and announced the filling of posts for groundsman, watchman cum gardener, and sweeper to improve and maintain sports infrastructure.
During the meeting, Sports Director Pankaj Nain informed the Chief Minister about the various state-level and district sports complexes, as well as the efforts being made by the department to provide excellent sports infrastructure to budding players. The Chief Minister approved the proposal to fill 202 junior coaches, 254 groundsman, and 203 watchman-cum-gardener-cum-sweeper on a contract basis through Haryana Kaushal Rojgar Nigam Limited.
The budget for the sports department has been increased from Rs. 540.5 crore to Rs. 566.04 crore for the year 2023-24. The Director of Sports also shared that 216 outstanding sports persons were offered government job appointments till 2023, out of which 179 sportspersons have joined.
Furthermore, 1100 sports nurseries are operational in the state, and the sports nursery scheme is being redefined and transferred to educational institutions. The Chief Minister announced that every educational institution will be given Rs. 3 lakh every year to spend on sports equipment and infrastructure to enhance the sporting talent of budding players at a young age.
The Chief Minister also proposed to open 24 residential academies accommodating 600 athletes, with facilities for 12 sports. Each player will be given Rs. 400 per day food allowance.
The Chief Minister directed officials to ensure that information on every sports person is recorded in Parivar Pehchan Patra. He also proposed a scheme to honour the ‘Akhadas and Khalifas’ who groom sports talents among players of traditional sports like wrestling and kabaddi.
In his budget speech, the Chief Minister, who is also the Finance Minister, announced the Sportspersons Insurance Benefit Scheme in the name of Master Chandgi Ram, who brought laurels to Haryana in the wrestling world.