Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal directed the Department of Sports and Youth Welfare to expeditiously implement the playground development scheme under Chief Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) with two pilot projects in Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup districts and subsequently extend the scheme in all the districts of the State.
Sonowal directed this to the department during the Governing Body meeting of the Management Committee of the Assam Youth Development Mission Society at the conference room of his office at Janata Bhawan on Saturday.
Underling the need for generating favourable environment for promoting sports talents of rural areas, Chief Minister Sonowal directed the department to organize sports championships at gaon panchayat, anchalik panchayat and zila parishad level covering the children and youth from 8 to 30 years of age in three different categories. He also asked the department to identify prospective playground at panchyat level for the sports events.
Further highlighting the national and international sports events which have successfully been held recently in the state, Chief Minister Sonowal said that a positive sports environment gradually develops the State, which contributes in materializing the State Government’s avowed goal of making Guwahati the sports capital of the country.
Moreover, to take the Government’s initiatives forward, Sonowal suggested the department to convene an international level seminar in the presence of renowned sports persons of the country to inspire the young sports talents of the state as well as sports organizations and sports officials. He also emphasized on the need for frequent interactions with district sports officers to develop congenial sports environment for encouraging the sports persons at grass root level.
CEO of CMSGUY Mega Mission Society and retired IAS officer RT Jindal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sanjay Lohiya, Commissioner & Secretary of Sports and youth welfare department Ashutosh Agnihotri, Member Secretary of SLAC for Sports and Youth Welfare Lakhya Konwar and other senior officials of the department were present in the meeting.