Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 2 July: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today directed officials to complete the process of inducting medal-winning players into government service under the out-of-turn appointment scheme within the stipulated timeframe. Chairing a meeting of the Sports and Youth Welfare Department at the Secretariat here, today, he emphasised that most of these appointments should be made within the sports department itself and asked for a detailed plan to be prepared accordingly.
Dhami also instructed that the state’s new sports policy be framed in line with the National Sports Policy 2025 introduced by the Centre. He further directed that the academic sessions of Uttarakhand State Sports University at Gaulapaar, Haldwani, should be launched from next month and that, for this, the admission procedures and recruitment of coaches, staff and officers be expedited. He also asked the officials to accelerate the construction of mini stadiums under the one block one mini stadium scheme.
The CM stressed the need for a legacy plan to ensure that facilities developed during the 38th National Games are maintained and made more useful for players. He said special attention be given to the upkeep of infrastructure at Maharana Pratap Sports College Dehradun, Gaulapaar Stadium Haldwani, Rudrapur Velodrome, Tehri Lake, Haridwar and Pithoragarh stadiums, with a comprehensive plan prepared for their maintenance. He also directed that special training camps in different disciplines be organised to prepare the athletes for the 39th National Games in 2027 and that the process of selection and identification of players in coordination with sports associations be advanced. He reiterated the government’s resolve to achieve better performance in future national games and to establish Uttarakhand not only as Devbhoomi but also as Khelbhoomi.
Dhami said that under the one district one sport scheme, coaching, talent identification and competitive opportunities must be developed in each district for the designated sport. He directed that every district sports hostel be developed as an ODOS sports nursery for the respective discipline. He emphasised that the government is committed to providing quality sports facilities to every player in the state and towards ensuring that they progress according to their talent. He said fulfilling the aspirations of the youth is the government’s highest priority and asked departmental officers to advance sports schemes in line with the needs of players.
It was shared at the meeting that, so far, 29 medal-winning players have been inducted into government service. Under the one block one mini stadium scheme, 48 mini stadiums have been constructed while work on 10 more is in progress, with land transfer procedures underway for others. It was also reported that India’s first women’s residential sports college at Lohaghat is progressing rapidly, with 16 posts created for its operation and admission procedures already in motion. The state’s first and India’s tenth sports university at Golapar, Haldwani, is seeing the development of 39 infrastructure components including an auditorium, central library, health centre, cafeteria, research centre, shooting range, seminar hall, badminton hall, football ground, hockey ground and an eight-lane athletics track.
Among those present at the meeting were Sports Minister Rekha Arya, Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Secretary Shailesh Bagauli, Special Principal Secretary, Sports, Amit Sinha, Director, Sports, Deepti Singh, Joint Director Shakti Singh, Deputy Director Neeraj Gupta, Assistant Director Rajesh Mamangai and other senior officials.
