Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel has said that the Central government will take a favourable decision soon on Kerala’s demand for the allocation of a sports university and high altitude centre.
The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the distribution of cash awards for sportspersons instituted by Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC) at the Jimmy George indoor stadium here on Saturday.
The Minister said that he would place the demands of Kerala before the Union Cabinet. The Union Minister praised the efforts of the Kerala government and the KSSC in promoting sports. He said Kerala’s dream project, the Operation Olympia and Minimum Fitness programme, will ensure the development and growth of sports in the State.
The Minister said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had promised to oversee the preparations of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup personally and the work would be completed by May 15 which is the deadline set by FIFA.
He said that despite the dismal performance in Olympics, the fact that many sportspersons qualified for Olympics and para Olympic games showed the progress the country had achieved in the field of sports.
Around 2,000 sportspersons were eligible for the cash prize. Renjith Maheshwary, P.U. Chitra, Lidiyamol Sunny, Mayookha Johnny, Betty Joseph, Nitya Kuriakose, Dittymol, Elizabeth Susan Koshy and Jisna Jose were among the sportspersons who received the cash award from the Union Minister.
The Union Minister, earlier, laid the foundation stone for the 100-bed men's hostel at LNCPE, Karyavattom. He later inaugurated a workshop on Kalaripayattu.
