Twenty five nations are expected to vie in the fourth edition of the World Cup Kabaddi, scheduled to be held in November.
With Punjab all set to host the Kabaddi extravaganza, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Monday said that all formalities were completed by the State Sports department to hold the World Cup Kabaddi 2013, in which 25 nations would be participating for record prize money in a fortnight long sports festival.
Sukhbir said that strict National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) anti-doping guidelines would be implemented in the tournament.
“Punjab has given Kabbadi an international status and now Punjab is promoting Kabaddi in countries of Europe, Africa, USA, Australia and other non representative sub-continents to make its claim strong for Olympics,” he added.
He said that the Government was already taking up this issue with International Olympic Committee (IOC) for making efforts to include this game in 2020 Olympics.
laying emphasis on the development of sports culture in the State, Sukhbir said that a record provision of Rs91 crore has been made in the current budget and Rs13 crore has been set aside for developing playgrounds in 1233 villages.
He said that 2,200 sportspersons would be graded and would get monthly scholarship of Rs500 and Rs1,000 per month.
Sukhbir added that Punjab Government has already finalised the plan to establish Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Center of Excellence in Sports at Mohali with four regional campuses at Bathinda, Jalandhar, ludhiana, and Amritsar at the cost of Rs100 crore, in which 2000 budding sportspersons would be selected for training.
He said that his Government has introduced 3 per cent sports quota in the Government jobs to attract Punjabi youth towards sports and many sports personality were given jobs as per their level of performance.