Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha inaugurated Synthetic Turf Football Ground at Umakanta mini stadium today. The Synthetic Turf Football Ground has been constructed at the cost of 5 crore rupees and will be useful in all seasons. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for installing flood lights for day-night matches on the ground. 3 crore 82 lakh rupees will be spent on this. This work will be completed in the next two months.

The Chief Minister said, there is no scarcity of talented sportspersons in the state. Modern sports infrastructure is required to establish oneself in the world arena. That is why the present state government from the beginning has been implementing different plans giving equal importance to overall development in the sports sector as well as education. He also said any kind of sports plays a significant role in the development of the brain as well as in building a healthy society by keeping the young generation away from addictions. He said this synthetic turf football ground has been built according to the guidelines of the international football organization, FIFA.

Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma said it is a historic day for sports in the state. Despite different financial challenges, the present government did not compensate for the development of the sports infrastructure of the state. Sport plays an important role in building a spirit of competition and cooperation among the youth as well as in building human character. That is why, the government has started to implement ‘Khelo Tripura, Sustho Tripura’ for sports infrastructure development in the state. There is scope for taking up any kind of sport as a profession as there is income and respect in every kind of sport.

Youth Affairs & Sports Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said the initiative was taken to construct such Synthetic Turf Football Ground in Jirania, Mohanpur, and Belonia including Agartala under the central government’s special assistance scheme. But the fund allotment under the scheme stopped due to various reasons. These synthetic turf grounds have been constructed with a state budget of about 20 crore rupees. The synthetic turf ground on Umakanta mini stadium is one of these. He thanked the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister for providing financial assistance for constructing these grounds. Welcome speech was delivered by the Secretary of Youth Affairs & Sports department Dr. P. K. Chakraborty. Director of the department Subikash Debbarma, Padmashri Dipa Karmakar, Secretary of Tripura Sports Council Amit Rakshit, and President of Tripura Football Association Pranab Sarkar were present during the programme. The YAS Minister handed over souvenirs to the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. The guests looked around the football ground and watched the opening match of B Division Club League Football.

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