PM Modi lays foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut
Meerut: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Uttar Pradesh's Salawa and Kaili villages of Sardhana town at Meerut. The university shall be the first of its kind in Uttar Pradesh.
At the ceremony, the PM said "This university is named after Major Dhyan Chand. And, without 'dhyan' (focus) there can be no success." This university will provide amongst the best sporting infrastructure in the country and sportspeople will make the mark at international level. The sports shall be subjects like science, commerce, math, geography and others and have been included under the New Education Policy.
He said, "Major Dhyan Chand Sports University will provide modern sporting infrastructure to train future sportspeople for competing and winning at global competitions. A sports eco-system, sports facilities and sports management system will be there for the future sportspersons."
Dedicating the sports university after the famous legendary and earlier the Central government announced the biggest 'Khel Ratna Award' after Major Dhyan Chand, the PM said, "There can be not better tribute to legendary player Major Dhyan Chand as the sports university has been named after him and Yogi government has given the best tribute to him by doing so."
Before laying the foundation stone, the PM, Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath paid floral tributes at Shahid Smarak and offered prayers at the Baba Augurnath temple, also known as the Kali Paltan temple.
Meerut has a world renowned sporting industry and is also known as 'sports city'. Much before the advent of globalization in India, the sports industry was marketing the sports goods in more than 50 countries, now in more than a hundred countries, earning foreign currency for the country. In the just concluded Tokyo Olympics, maximum participation of athletes in India was from Meerut, five in Olympics and one in Paralympics.
During his address, the PM praised the role of people of Meerut who participated in the first war of freedom and acknowledged their contributions in making India, Independent. The PM said, "The role of people at borders or while working at farms, their contributions are commendable and cannot be forgotten."
Further the PM said, "Meerut has a glorious past and culture, known for Tirthankara Jain, Panj Pyare, Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. From Sindhu ghats to the first war of Independence, the people of this part have shown to the world, what the grit of the country is? With the blessings of Baba Augurnath, the country got freedom and presently, we are also celebrating 'azadi ka amrit mahotsav'.
Emphasising the power of the youth, Khelo India scheme helps in recognising young talents, the PM said, "Youth is the cornerstone of India and it is also the ruler and leader of New India. Our youth today have the heritage of olden times; they also have a sense of modernity. And so, where the youth will run, India will run. And where India will run, the world is going to run there." Both the PM and the CM also praised Olympics and Paralympics players who won medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
While hitting hard at the previous governments, the PM said, "Inequity and no transparency were regular in sports in past governments. The talent of the players were neglected, this government reformed to restore the hounour of sports."
Major Dhyan Chand Sports University shall have the capacity of training 540 female and 540 male sportspersons, in all 1080 sportspersons, and shall be equipped with modern and state of the art sports infrastructure including synthetic hockey ground, football ground, basketball, volleyball, handball, kabaddi ground, lawn tennis court, gymnasium hall, synthetic running stadium, swimming pool, multipurpose hall and a cycling velodrome.
Furthermore it will house facilities for shooting, squash, gymnastics, weightlifting, archery, canoeing and kayaking, among other facilities.
