Dharamshala: “Centre Government is ready to set up a national high altitude sports training centre near Dharamshala, if the state government provides the required land for it,” said Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Youth Services and Sports disclosed here on Sunday.
He said that the Dharamsala area could play a major role in the idea of expanding Dev Bhoomi, Veer Bhoomi Himachal to a Sports Bhoomi land also. “We will try to improve and expand sports facilities in Dharamshala in near future. We shall also work to bring more sports events to the city in near future,” said the Minister.
He said that the Modi Government is working towards improving sporting standards across the country. He said that one of the examples is that the PM himself interacted with the Indian sportspersons of Tokyo Olympic, encouraged them, and even invited the entire contingent to his residence. Anuraag said that the elite athletes are being trained in other countries on government’s expenses, and even in India, they are being provided the best-required food, facilities and coaches.
“Dharamshala is my second home,” he said. “I used to visit this place frequently, even before joining politics. I worked to develop the city as a world-class cricketing center.” He said that the area could also be uplifted in other sports too, as it is connected by air.
Talking about the expansion of the Gaggal airport, the minister said that it must be expanded to give a boost to tourism, and the opening of many avenues for direct and indirect employment for thousands of youth of the area. Minister added that the central government has already sanctioned funds for airport expansion and now the state government should take initiative.
Anurag said that special efforts would be made to identify Himachal Pradesh as a sports hub and facilities would be created to develop sports in every district of the state.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
