BHOPAL, Jan 31: State Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Mama Natung has attended the opening ceremony of the 5th edition of Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) held at the Tatya Tope Nagar Stadium in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The KIYG-2022 was inaugurated by Union Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Singh Thakur along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and joined by Arunachal Pradesh Sports & Youth Minister Mama Natung, MoS for Sports Nishith Pramanik and others on the inaugural day event.
Speaking to this daily on Tuesday, Natung informed that the Khelo India games have been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in the country, and also establishing India as a sporting nation.
He said that the event is one of the most important youth games in the country and the athletes from Arunachal Pradesh will also be participating in various events. He said that youths from the state are excited as well as well prepared to shine in upcoming events.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always made efforts to take sports forward in the country. Moreover, these games will provide an opportunity to the children of poor families to move forward,” he said adding, the Union Minister Anurag Thakur has informed that a budget of Rs 3200 crores will be provided for Khelo India Games.
Also, the country’s sports budget has also been increased to Rs 2000 crores, he added.
The KIYG-2022 will be held in 8 cities of Madhya Pradesh and will be a 13 days event. Wherein, around 6000 athletes from across the country will be participating in 27 different sports disciplines.
Meanwhile, the team manager of the Arunachal Pradesh Weightlifting team, Satrughan Gungli said that he along with his team left for Bhopal to participate in the KIYG on Monday evening by train.
He said, subsequently, other participating teams from the state will also be joining them later.
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