‘Scholarships, jobs, awards’: Kashmir sportspersons give thumbs up to new Sports Policy

Srinagar:  New Sports Policy has brought cheers to the sportspersons in Jammu and Kashmir.

They feel that the policy will boost the sports infrastructure and also give encouragement to the youth in Jammu and Kashmir.

“We welcome the initiative and are thankful to the J&K government as the sports policy will give a lot of encouragement to the real sports persons. There will be awards, jobs and other incentives for the sportspersons. The policy will provide handholding to the youth wishing to excel in sports,” national kayaking and canoeing coach Bilquis Mir told The Kashmir Monitor.

She said it will also encourage the youth to take up recognised sports. “Nowadays we see a lot of youngsters taking up unrecognised sports and they later complain that they do not get government benefits. The new policy will benefit the youth that have taken up recognised sports. It will also encourage the youngsters to take up recognised sports only,” she said.

Adil Teli, who has set a Guinness World Record for the fastest bicycle journey from Kashmir to KanyaKumari, said the policy will give a boost to the sportspersons of J&K.

“This is a very good initiative and will give a boost to the sportspersons. Youngsters receive lots of medals in different sports but then they feel that their achievements are not recognised. Now, youngsters who get medals will get acknowledged and the policy will inspire the sporstpersons to do better,” Teli told The Kashmir Monitor.

He said other states already had a sports policy in place and now the sportspersons of J&K too will get benefitted.

“Several other states  like Harayana and Punjab had sports policies long back but unfortunately till date nobody had taken a similar initiative in J&K. It will now be advantageous for our youth and benefit sportspersons at the grassroots,” he said.

The sports policy incorporates provisions for cash awards for winners, scholarships and employment to outstanding sportspersons and lays special focus on differently-abled athletes The policy also incorporates various annual awards like Award for Excellence in sports for 10 sportsperson, J&K Khel Protsahana Award for Sports Association, and two veterans/ experienced sportspersons/ organizers or referees, Parshuram Award for five best Coaches in different disciplines.

To further motivate the UT’s sporting talent, the Sports Policy will entail special cash awards to the winners in Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championship (Seniors/ Juniors), World Cup/ Championships, Youth Olympic Games, South Asian Games, and World University Games/ Championships; in the range of Rs. 1.00 lakh to Rs. 1.00 crore.