The 2025 has been a golden year for sports in Jammu and Kashmir. Our athletes won a record 94 gold, 96 silver, and 134 bronze medals at the national and international level this year. Of them, 85 gold, 86 silver, and 126 bronze medals were won at the national level, and nine gold, 10 silver, and nine bronze medals were bagged at the international level. More than 43S sportspeople from J&K competed in fencing, gymnastics, bodybuilding, para archery, pencak silat, football, rollball, softball, and rollerskating at different international tourneys this year. Credit goes to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the J&K Sports Council for reviving sports culture in Jammu and Kashmir. Over 21.96 lakh youth were engaged in different sports activities this year. Last year, 35.01 lakh youth were engaged in sports activities across Jammu and Kashmir. It was in 2019 when the concept of youth engagement started. In the first year, 1.10 lakh youth were engaged in different sports activities. The following year, five lakh joined the sports activities. In 2021-22, 17.50 lakh joined the sports caravan. In 2022-23, 35 lakh youth participated in different sports events. In 2023-24, 36 lakh youth took part in different sports activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Not only cricket and football, but J&K is excelling in other sports as well. Such is the craze for sports that 17042 schools in Jammu and Kashmir have registered for the Fit India Movement. World-class infrastructure has been established at both capital cities for cricket and football. Major indoor stadiums were established under the PMDP and JKIDFC scheme for the integrated development of all sports. This has spurred large-scale participation of youth in sports at the village and town levels. The development of synthetic infrastructure has been the iciing on the cake. It is not just for sports; the mass participation of youth is an attempt to keep them away from anti-social activities. The Jammu and Kashmir government has a responsibility not to let this momentum fade away. The government should further incentivize sports so that more and more people join this movement. The government should come up with a new sports policy for youth. The outstanding sportspersons should be provided jobs in their relevant fields so that they can pass on their expertise to the younger generation. Schools and other educational institutions should make sports mandatory. Sports should be an essential part of the school curriculum. `Catch them young’ should be the mantra of our government to spot talent. There are still grey areas that need to be addressed. Our real talent lies in far-flung areas. We need to ensure the youth in these areas get a chance to prove their mettle. Our sports should be fused with our tourism. Our snow cricket and rugby should be promoted on a large scale so that tourists could be lured to these winter destinations. This way, we can add another feature to our tourism.
Sports paradise
