Manipur: First district sports development fund launched

Our Correspondent

Imphal, July 16 (EMN): For the first time, a district sports development fund (DSDF) was formally launched in Manipur’s Bishnupur district to help sportspersons excel by providing them gap-filling funds for travel to national/international competitions in Olympic sports by utilising the prize money received under Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2021.

Manipur Youth Affairs and Sports Minister, Govindas Konthoujam; Deputy Commissioner of Bishnupur, L Bikram; ADM H Bobby Sharma; District Sports Officer, Soibam Ibeyaima Devi and others were present during the launch function at Bishnupur district headquarters, 35 km south of Imphal on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, minister Konthoujam, while lauding the district administration for initiating DSDF, expressed that the noble initiative will greatly aid in meeting the travel expenses of athletes and in organising district-level sport events.

Emphasising the importance of grooming budding sportspersons and guiding them to overcome any hurdle during their sports career, he hoped that the DSDF will enable the sportspersons in achieving their goals and in steering the district towards betterment in the arena of sports.

Meanwhile, DC Bikram said the idea to initiate the DSDF was conceived out of the regular interactions and visits made at the sports training centres of the district.

The objective of the fund is to further push the athletes or sports persons to excel and scale to greater heights in sports activities at their respective disciplines in the future, he added.

It may be mentioned, as per the office memorandum, that sportspersons should belong to BPL family or are orphans. The fund will also provide financial assistance for prize money in district or block-level competitions up to a maximum of INR 50,000 to regular performing district-level clubs and organisations.

The Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2021 was conferred to Bishnupur district in April this year for best performance in the implementation of ‘Promoting excellence in sports and wellness through Khelo India scheme’.