In a bid to promote sports culture in the State, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday offered players jobs by Punjab Government if they excel in sports on international level.
Badal, who was the chief guest of fifth Kabaddi World Cup 2014 matches held here on Friday, said the State Government would be amending its sports policy in the next Cabinet meeting to provide jobs to sportspersons. He declared that traditional martial art Gatka would also become an affiliated sport in the next Cabinet meeting. The Deputy CM also promised the Barnala residents that an ultra modern and much bigger stadium having all facilities would be constructed in the city by spending Rs4 crore by next year.
Addressing the audience, Deputy Chief Minister said that the SAD-BJP Government was working on an aggressive campaign to produce maximum number of trained sportspersons and to have more Punjabi players in the Indian contingent for the coming Olympics. He said the day was not far away when Kabbadi would also be included in Olympics as the State Government was making persistent efforts in this regard. likewise, he said that the State Government was also duty bound to preserve the rich legacy of hckey, besides other national sports.
He said that successful organisation of four editions of World Cup Kabbadi has encouraged the organisation of World Kabbadi leagues at national and international level which increased its fans and followers across the boundaries. He added it could easily be judged from the fact that Kabbadi teams from countries like Sweden and Azerbaijan were participating in this event for the first time.
Badal expressed confidence that 5th World Cup Kabbadi would put this game to another higher orbit of glory and Punjab would realise its endeavour to include Kabbadi in Olympics. He said for the first time this event is being held in the rural stadiums so as to popularise this mother game of Punjab in every nook and corner of the state. Punjabi singer Pammi Bai enthralled the audience with his numbers.