Bhubaneswar, June 7 (IANS). Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that sports are not limited to just winning medals, making records or winning and losing, but it is also the biggest medium to develop discipline, teamwork and ability to face difficult situations in life.
He said that sports play an important role in personality building of youth and overall development of the state.
The Chief Minister was addressing the concluding session of the two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ organized by the state Sports and Youth Services Department on Sunday. He said that this event, organized for the first time in Odisha, will play an important role in preparing a comprehensive roadmap and strong action plan for the future development of sports in the state.
National and international level sports experts, administrators and players participated in this program and discussed in detail the development and new possibilities of sports in Odisha. The Chief Minister said that due to successful hosting of national and international sports events, Odisha has now got a special identity at the global level.
He informed that World Athletics and Asian Indoor Athletics Championships will be organized in Odisha in the year 2028. Apart from this, the state had successfully hosted the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze competition last year, while Odisha will also host the Silver level event of this competition this year.
The Chief Minister said that a state-of-the-art multipurpose sports complex is being developed at Gothapatna in Bhubaneswar at a cost of about Rs 1,000 crore. At the same time, to strengthen the sports infrastructure at the grassroots level, modern multipurpose stadiums are being built at a cost of more than Rs 4,000 crore at the block level across the state.
He said that through the Chief Minister Trophy Programme, emerging talents of rural areas are being identified and given advanced training. He also mentioned the concept of ‘Happy Coaches, Happy Athletes and Happy Achievers’.
Chief Minister Majhi expressed confidence that the sports sector will play an important role in achieving the goal of ‘Prosperous Odisha’ by the year 2036 and ‘Developed India’ by the year 2047. In the coming years, Odisha will not only be known for hosting sporting events but also for producing world class champion players.
–IANS
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