Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday announced that modern playgrounds will be developed in villages across the state to wean youth away from drugs and channelise their energy in a positive direction.
“We have decided to develop these grounds. The work on 3,083 grounds is going to start and a total of 4,000 grounds will be developed in the first phase,” he said during a press conference here.
He said athletes who won medals in international competitions will also be involved in coaching to promote a sporting culture among the youth.
There are nearly 13,000 villages in Punjab, and quality grounds will be built in every village, he added.
Mann said when children take part in sports, they stay away from bad habits and their energy is channelised positively.
The government keeps receiving hundreds of proposals from village Panchayats for building sports stadiums in villages, Mann said, adding that there is no dearth of land availability for developing grounds in villages.
Even NRIs are willing to donate land, he added.
With Punjab already running the “Yudh Nashian Virudh” (war against drugs) campaign, Mann said the initiative is the next step in the campaign.
Taking a swipe at previous governments, he alleged they pushed youth towards drugs.
“Youth were inclined towards sports and education. But during the previous governments’ time, they were neither given grounds nor books. As they say, an idle mind is a devil’s workshop, many youth fell into bad habits. Gradually, Punjab slipped into the quagmire of drugs and youngsters did not get the atmosphere they deserved,” he said.