Union Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday announced that Khelo India Youth Games 2022 will be organised in Madhya Pradesh.
Union Minister Thakur handed over the torch of Khelo India Youth Games 2022 to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the occasion.
CM Chouhan thanked Sports Minister Anuraj Thakur and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing the opportunity to host the fifth Khelo India Youth Games.
CM Chouhan said, “The Khelo India games will not be organised at a single place. It will be organised across the state which include Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khargone, Mandal and Balaghat. Besides, it will be played in New Delhi as well. The players will also enjoy the tourism along with their games.”
The Madhya Pradesh government is continuously encouraging sports activity. The budget of the department was only 5 crores in 2003, now it has increased to Rs 350 crores. 11 sports academies of 18 sports have been established in the state. Besides, 171 sports training centres have been built in the last six years.
The state has made a place in the top 10 with 38 medals in the Khelo India Youth Games, 2021. The state has made a historical performance in Mallakhamb in the Khelo India Youth Games, 2021.
The state has clinched 66 medals in the recent national games. International-level sports training is being given to 900 talented players. Foreign coaches are being invited to provide training to the players in the state. Eight players trained from Madhya Pradesh Academy participated in Tokyo Olympics 2022.
Two players in the men’s hockey team and four players in the women’s hockey team were selected from Madhya Pradesh in the Commonwealth Games, 2022.
The state capital Bhopal has been a nursery for hockey for years. ‘Chief Minister Cup’ from 2015, ‘Vidhayak Cup’ and ‘Sansad Cup’ from 2017 has been organised in the state on a regular basis.
The state government organised ‘Youth Mahapanchayat’ on the occasion of the 116th birth anniversary of Chandrashekhar Azad, July 23 in which over one lakh youths of the state participated.
Besides, the state organised various sports competitions at village level, block level, district level and state level with the participation of the public.
