Chief Minister Raghubar Das has unrolled series of fillip and encouragements for sportspersons from the State for their encouragement. Walking on the path of Punjab,Haryana and few other States the CM announced that medal winners at Olympic level would be felicitated with Rs 2 crore and Government job.
Addressing the gathering on the inauguration of the 7th Vanvasi Krida Mahotsav at Hotwar on Sunday, the Chief Minister said that Jharkhand has undoubtedly, become the hub for sports in the country.
"We have immense potential in the field of sports that needs to be encouraged. The Government has decided to award Olympic medalists with Rs 2 crore. Besides that, medal winners at international and national stages would be directly recruited by the Government," said Raghubar Das and added two per cent of the vacancies would be reserved for sportspersons.
The Chief Minister on the occasion counted on initiatives taken for the establishment of Sports University on PPP mode and support the State has received from the Center in that direction. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal have shown lots of interest for setting up the Sports University in the State. We have been assured that no dearth of resources for that would be from the Center," added the CM and underlined the importance of sports in the nation building and personality development.
Also present on the occasion was Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram who informed that the Center is working on a policy that would provide scholarship for sportspersons on the lines of students in the field of education.
General Secretary of Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh Bhaiyyaji Joshi encouraged the courage and spirit of the 3,200 athletes taking part in the National-level tournament.
"It is a moment of pride for Jharkhand to host such an event with 160 athletes participating from the state itself. We should soon witness your glorious victories at international levels," said Bhaiyaji Joshi.
Earlier the torch flame lit at the Ulihatu village of Khunti at 6.30 in the morning reachedthe Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Mega Sports Complex at 11.30 where after the inaugural ceremony began. The ceremony came to a colourful end with the Dandiya dance performed by the Gujarat team which was followed by a song performance on 'Vande Mataram' by Vetra and Inea, a mother-daughter singer duo from luthiana, Europe.
Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra member Dr HP Narayan introduced the guests of honour likeAnshu Jamsenpa, from Arunachal Pradesh who has climbed the Mt. Everest twice and Kavita Rout from Maharashtra who has an international record in 1000 m race among others.
The cultural performances began with Mukund Naik, Jharkhand's most renowned folk artist and his son Nandalal Naik and team who played the traditional musical instrument Mandar to the beat of 'The Rhythm of the Forest'. The performance took place while the 33 teams from different states of the country marched their way in to the stadium. Soon after, a plethora of cultural performances followed by the Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Odisha and Devnagri teams.