Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Saturday, said all preparations would be completed by 31 December for the successful conduct of the fourth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games in Panchkula from 5 February.

Addressing a Press conference after inspecting the preparations being made for the Khelo India Youth Games at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula today, the CM said as many as 25 different types of sports will be organized in this sports event, in which about 10000 players from across the country will participate. This opening ceremony will be held on 5 February at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector-3, Panchkula, he added.

Khattar said in the 25 different sports to be organised under Khelo India Games, five regional games have also been added this time, which include Gatka of Punjab, Thang-Ta of Manipur, Kalaripayattu of Kerala, Malkhamb of Maharashtra, and Yogasan.

He said Rs 250 Crore will be spent on the development of necessary infrastructure for these games, of which Rs 150 Crore will be spent on infrastructure development and Rs 100 Crore will be spent on other equipment and facilities.

The CM said along with Panchkula, these games would be organized in Ambala, Shahabad, Chandigarh, and Delhi. He said that the final matches of most of the games will start from 8 February, which will be telecast live through a sports channel.

In response to a question regarding compliance with the guidelines of COVID-19 during the Games, Khattar said compliance with the pandemic guidelines would be ensured.

He said two cases of the new variant of the Covid-19 that has just been detected have been found in the country. The health department and all other departments are on alert and the health department is fully prepared to deal with any situation.

The CM said Haryana is continuously progressing in sports and the state government is increasing the budget of sports every year. Where the budget of sports was Rs 151 Crore in the year 2014-15, it has now increased to Rs 394 Crore in 2021-22, which is more than double.

He said that a Scientific Training and Rehabilitation Center is being set up in Panchkula to prepare the players mentally and physically for sports. Apart from this, such centres will also be set up in Karnal, Hisar, Rohtak, and Gurugram.