In a first, Jammu and Kashmir government has roped in panchayats to nurture sports talent at the grass root level across villages.
Besides grooming talent at a young age, the government aims to keep the youth engaged in various sports activities to keep them off drugs and militancy, an official said.
Starting from the forests of Gurez to the cold deserts of Ladakh and plains of Samba, the J&K government will equip all the 4,300 panchayats with sports equipment to introduce youth to popular games like cricket, football, carom board and chess. The orders for equipment have already been placed and will be handed over to the respective panchayats soon, Youth Services and Sports director general Saleem ur Rehman said.
“We will be selecting 40 youths from every panchayat and the process has already started in south Kashmir. They will be trained by J&K Youth Services and Sports department coaches to compete at panchayat level first and later district, state and national level,” Rehman said.
He said the newly elected 30,000 panchayat members will also be engaged in the process.
In the first phase, the main focus will remain on panchayats of south Kashmir’s four districts— Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and Shopian— which have witnessed a surge in the violence in the last three years with young men joining militant ranks.
{{/usCountry}}In the first phase, the main focus will remain on panchayats of south Kashmir’s four districts— Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and Shopian— which have witnessed a surge in the violence in the last three years with young men joining militant ranks.
{{/usCountry}}“We want to save our younger generation. They idle around and experiment with drugs besides indulging in stone pelting,” he said.
Rehman said teams for football and cricket will be selected eventually. “We will be adding two more sports, Kho Kho and skiing to the list. We are also planning to hold a big skiing event this winter,” he said.
The director general said a blueprint has been prepared for the entire exercise which will commence in the last week of July.
He said young boys and girls living in cities and towns have access to facilities in contrast to their counterparts in rural areas who struggle to avail even an ordinary equipment.
Terming it as a good move, J&K Panchayat Conference chairman Shafiq Mir said , “Youths living in villages don’t have any facility available. It is a great initiative. The government should also construct play fields at panchayat levels so that our boys and girls could compete with their counterparts living in cities.’’
Striking a similar chord, Ishfaq Ahmad, Kashmiri footballer and technical committee member of All India Football Federation said implementation of the initiative would, however, remain a challenge.
“It is a great idea to nurture youngsters at the grassroots level in far flung areas. At least, they would be equipped with basic knowledge at the panchayat level and will be able to organise tournaments and arrange coaches in future. The question, however, remains on how the government plans to create the whole structure and implement the initiative,” Ahmad said.
Former secretary sports council and PDP youth leader, Waheed ur Rehman Parra, said rural sports should have been the focus from the very beginning in the state. “It is a very good initiative and timely move.’’