P Srinivasan I [email protected]
Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics is proving revolutionary in increasing the popularity of the sports in Rajasthan along with creating an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood. The second phase of rural sports has started at all the panchayat samiti headquarters in the state. Players from all age groups are taking part and competing with each other in the spirit of sportsmanship. The block level competitions will continue till September 15. Later, the district level competitions will be organised from September 22 to 25 and state level competitions from October 2 to 5 at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
Every village of Rajasthan has sports talents and the state government wants that they all get good facilities and an opportunity to prove themselves. With this intention, the state government started the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics in Rajasthan.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that around 30 lakh people registered themselves in this sports mahakumbh that started on August 29 at the panchayat level. Now every year Rural Olympics will be organised and next year, it is possible that registrations would be around 70 lakh to 1 crore people.
The chief minister said that it is being considered to organise ‘Urban Olympics’ by December. He said that probably experiment like in Rajasthan has not taken place anywhere in the world. He said that along with organising Rural Olympics, a network of playgrounds is being laid in the entire state with an intention to provide facilities to the players.
He said that the person associated with sports rises above petty issues and, his/her willpower becomes strong, increases the ability to take quick decisions and sports develop the vision. The chief minister said, “We want Rajasthan to become the number one state in every field.”
It was a historical day on August 29 in Rajasthan, as for the first time Mahakumbh of sports Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics-2022 was organised on National Sports Day. The objective of this event was to search the rural sports talents and prepare them for state, national and international level competitions.
Approximately 30 lakh sportspersons from 11,285 gram panchayats in the state registered themselves to play various sports and games. A total of 2,21,055 teams were formed in which 20.37 lakh men and 10 lakh women players took part including children to elderly people. The sports being played in Rural Olympics include Tennis Ball Cricket, Kho-Kho, Kabaddi, Volleyball, Hockey and Shooting Volleyball.
A new sports culture is getting developed in the state with the policies of the state government. A provision has been made for a 2% reservation in government jobs for the medal winners to encourage sportspersons. Medal winner players have been given ‘Out-of-Turn’ appointments in various departments. The state government has also increased the award money up to Rs 3 crore for medal winners in the Olympic games and also increased the daily allowance of the players. The government for better sports infrastructure is ensuring a budget, allotment of land, necessary equipment and facilities for practice.
The state government has taken a big decision of building a stadium at every block in the name of renowned Hockey player Major Dhyanchand. The construction of more than 50 stadiums is in progress.