Jammu: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today inaugurated the UT-wide Lieutenant Governor’s Rolling Trophy Cricket-2022 here at Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Sonawar being organised by Mission Youth in collaboration with Youth Services and Sports Department.
On the occasion, the Chief Secretary urged the participating youth to not only play themselves but involve their elders as well.
He told them that participating in the game is more important than winning or losing the game. He made out that every participant is a champion irrespective of the result of the game he is participating in.
Dr Mehta observed that it is the happiest day for all of us to note that 38000 youth across all the districts of J&K have initially registered themselves for playing this tournament. He expressed that the government is targeting 33 lakh youth to play any game of their interest in the times ahead.
The Chief Secretary mentioned that it is the endeavour of the government to facilitate each person to participate in any sort of sporting or cultural activity. He declared that the Culture Department is soon going to organize the cultural events across the UT and urged everybody including the participating youth to take part in any of the cultural events like music, singing, dancing, painting, etc.
Dr Mehta maintained that the government has ensured that each panchayat has a play field and youth have facilities close by to hone their sporting skills. He remarked that at present J&K has some 57 stadia that are fully equipped to hold day/night matches. He encouraged the youth to play there after schooling and enjoy the true spirit of the game during night hours.
He also interacted with the players there and asked them about their interests and strong areas of the game. He enquired from them about the nature and quality of sports facilities available in their respective areas. He advised them to play well and give them his best wishes for their good performance throughout the tournament.
The Chief Secretary administered pledge to youth about working against drug abuse. He inspired them to stop people from falling prey of drug abuse and simultaneously save themselves from this menace. He asked them to channelize their energy in making greater strides in their studies and sports. He told them to make it their objective to weed out this epidemic from our UT.