Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated a state-of-the-art sports complex in Jeypore in Koraput district.
The CM also launched 26 multipurpose indoor stadiums in 12 districts of the state on the occasion.
Spread over 11 acres of land, the sports complex at Jeypore has a natural football ground and a synthetic athletic track. Having a seating capacity of 500 spectators, it has a gymnastics center with international standard equipment, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two synthetic tennis courts, and a basketball court.
As many as 26 multi-purpose indoor stadiums have been constructed in 12 districts to further strengthen Odisha’s efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle and create a sports environment. It has facilities for sports like badminton, table tennis, yoga, chess, weight lifting and gym.
These projects have been implemented under the 5T initiative to develop professional sports in all parts of the state, from villages to cities.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the sports complex in Jeypore will encourage the young talents of Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri districts in the field of sports. He said that this complex will play a major role in the development of sports in South Odisha. He further said that we are giving more importance to sports to build an efficient youth mass. It gave Odisha a unique place in the field of sports in the world. Today, all other States are following the Odisha model in the field of sports.
Highlighting the inauguration of the indoor stadium, Naveen said that all these indoor stadiums will take the sports culture further in the state. This will create many opportunities for our children, especially in the field of professional sports. Children from villages and small towns can participate in various sports competitions in large numbers and our efforts will play an important role in developing sports culture in Odisha, he said.
Attending the program in Jeypore, Sports Minister Tusarkanti Behera said the state government is making continuous efforts to take sports to the highest level and Odisha has been in the forefront as a sports promoting state by building various sports infrastructures and providing better training.