Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur announced here on Wednesday that a National Centre of Excellence with a dedicated sport science centre will be set up in Rajasthan along with additional 18 Khelo India Centres.
The Union Minister was speaking after inaugurating 33 Khelo India Centres in the state of Rajasthna at the SMS stadium here. With this opening, the country Khelo India centres number rose to 51.
“We want all states to grow in terms of sports. When state governments work in tandem with the Central government with a unanimous vision for sports, more medals will come for India,” he said.
“Success of the Khelo India scheme as well as the Target Olympic Podium scheme has resulted in the highest number of medals internationally over the last few years, be it in Olympics or Paralympics or Commonwealth Games or a historic event like a Thomas Cup win. Antim Panghal too created history by becoming U20 wrestling world champion twice. In chess too, Praggnanandhaa reached the final of the FIDE World Cup. This is an unbelievable phase for Indian sports. In 60 years, there were only 18 medals at the World University Games. This year itself, we won 26 medals in the tournament,” Thakur elaborated.
Ashok Chandna, Rajasthan minister for youth affairs and sports, was present on the occasion along with eminent dignitaries from the state, YAS Ministry and SAI were present.