Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday inaugurated the ‘Kalaignar Sports Kit,’ programme at E.M.G. Yadava Women’s College here.
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The State Government would distribute sports kits containing 33 types of sports equipment to 12,620 village panchayats in the State at a total cost of ₹86 crore through the programme. At the event Mr. Udhayanidhi distributed sports kits to representatives from 50 panchayats in the district.
Every sport kit would contain equipment for sports such as Cricket, Football, Volleyball, Throwball, Gym, Tennikoit, Skipping, Carrom, Silambam, Chess, Kabaddi, Badminton, among others. In addition to this, 100 T-shirts and 200 caps would be included in all the kits.
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Speaking at the event, Mr. Udhayanidhi said the sports development department was taking several measures through competitions and programmes to motivate more students and youths into sports.
“We are keen on bringing students not only from urban areas but also from rural areas. As a step ahead in achieving this dream, the Chief Minister sports trophy, which was conducted in the State, witnessed the participation of about 3.5 lakh players. Further, Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation, which was launched here, is being utilised to help players from rural areas,” he added.
Every village panchayat in the State would benefit from the scheme, said Mr. Udhayanidhi. “This is the first scheme in the sports department which is named after the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. He was an ardent follower of sports like Cricket, Football, as he himself possessed the characteristics of sportsmen,” he noted.
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The Sports Minister further said that he took pride in naming the programme in the name of the late leader during his centenary year.
“Through Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, an Integrated Centre for Sports Science is opened in the Madurai stadium and works to setup Olympic academy at a cost of Rs.6 crores is underway,” he said.
Fulfilling the requests of some of the International Madurai based athletes like V. Revathi, he said a synthetic athletic track at a cost of ₹8.10 crore would come up in Madurai district sports stadium soon.
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“As per the promise given by DMK government in the Assembly to set up a sports stadium in all the assembly constituencies, a stadium in Sholavandan is being constructed and will be opened soon,” said Mr. Udhayanidhi.
He further advised students to work hard to achieve their dreams in whatever field they choose.
Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan speaking at the event, said, a society’s development could be learned by looking at the development it has attained in the field of sports.
“Sports is no longer just a hobby; it is equally important as education. Sports teaches life lessons,” he added.
Minister for Registration and Commercial Taxes P. Moorthy, Additional Chief Secretary Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Development Atulya Misra, Madurai City Mayor Indrani Ponvasanth, Madurai district Collector M.S. Sangeetha, Member Secretary Sports Development J. Meghanatha Reddy, Madurai City Corporation Commissioner Dinesh Kumar, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, among others, were present at the event.