Promoting Sports in Koraput district

Drawing the focus of youth’s participation towards progress in Koraput district and more particularly in the naxal affected blocks in the district will be on the top of agenda of the district administration , Balakrishna Sahu , District Collector of Koraput said in a meeting today. He was speaking as the chief guest of the inaugural session of the workshop on physical education being organized by Undivided Koraput District College Physical Education Teachers’ Association in the Tribal Museum of Koraput .
While in the first phase Nandapur , Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks would receive Rs.5 Lakh each for promotion of games and sports like football and volleyball , all the revenue villages in the district would be covered in a year’s time , he added. Highlighting the initiatives by the state government for the youth of the district , he said that 2000 youth from the region will get an opportunity to be posted in OSAP in the near future .
While narrating the story of an educated youth who had met him in Kotia , the boarder village of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh , he said that the youth like many others in the remote pockets of the district were losing the opportunities to avail the benefits of various employment openings in the district for the lack of information . However special effort would now be taken to see that such young people in the district are not left out in future , he said.
Expressing his concern over the gradual degradation of sports and games in schools Himansu Sekhar Mahapatra , president of the state unit of the association emphasized on the need of making it a compulsory for the schools to have a suitable play ground to get recognition from the state . Moreover physical education should also be taught as a subject rather than a pastime in the schools and colleges , he added.
While appreciating the success of Dangar Cup which initiated last year in the district in promoting native games and sports like football and volleyball, K.C.Panigrahy , Director , Tribal Museum of Koraput said that this could further keep the rural youth connected and informed to move ahead towards a collective growth . Physical education teachers from Koraput ,Rayagada , Malkangiri and Nabrangpur participated in the workshop.