World class winter sports academy in Gulmarg, 100 sports centres across J&K to be set up soon: Govt

New Delhi: The government on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that it would soon set up a world class winter sports academy in Gulmarg and 100 small sports centres under the ‘Khelo India’ mission across Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to supplementaries during question hour, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) Kiren Rijiju said the government will also hold the national camp for winter games in Gulmarg this year and his ministry will fund it.

“The government has decided to institute a world class winter sports academy in Gulmarg and its approval has also been given. By next year, after consultancy, you would soon see a renowned world-class winter sports institute in Gulmarg,” he told the house.

The minister also said the government is taking a number of initiatives to promote sports, including football which has an amazing potential in the Union Territory.

He said the government is going to start some more programmes in Kashmir, including in summer and water sports.

Two ‘khelo India’ centres of excellence would also be set up in Srinagar and Jammu, with different disciplines.

Besides, the government has sanctioned setting up of 40 small centres under ‘Khelo India’. The minister said 60 more such centres would be opened soon.

“The opening of a total of 100 small ‘Khelo India’ centres in Jammu and Kashmir have been declared. This is a record. We will also establish some more institutes there,” he said. (PTI)