Govt to recruit 280 coaches in Sports Dept: Minister Dhaliwal

0

Amritsar, January 23

The state government will appoint 280 new coaches in the Sports Department. This was stated by Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal during a discussion organised on sports infrastructure and facilities at Ajnala near here.

The minister said the government was committed to producing national and international-level sportspersons. The government was preparing a new sports policy, which would be implemented this year.

Admitting that there is a huge shortage of coaches in different categories, he said owing to the crunch, talented sportspersons were not being given proper training. Under the coming sports policy, the government would announce special awards and incentives for coaches.

Dhaliwal also announced a new sports stadium for Ajnala. He said being a border town, the area did not have enough sports infrastructure, but local sportspersons had time and again proved their mettle at national-level championships.

Listing achievements of the state government, he said an amount Rs 9.30 crore had been distributed to the medal-winning Punjabi athletes of the Commonwealth Games 2022 held in Birmingham.

He said a scheme had been launched in the name of Olympian Balbir Singh Senior to boost the morale of sportspersons with a budget of Rs 12.50 crore. He said under the scheme every medal winner in Senior National Games would get a monthly stipend of Rs 8,000 per month and medal winners of Junior National Games would get Rs 6,000 per month.

In the event organised by the Youth Welfare Club Ajnala (YWCA), Dhaliwal distributed 51 sports kits to various clubs and announced a grant of Rs 3 lakh for the YWCA.