Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement R.K. Roja inaugurated the summer sports training camps by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh(SAAP) at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium in the city on Wednesday. No summer camps were organised in the past two years due to COVID pandemic.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Roja said that the State government is on a mission to recognise and nurture talent at the village level as part of which 1,670 sports and games training camps are being conducted across the State in 48 disciplines spending ₹83.50 lakh.
She asked parents to send their wards to the summer camps and encourage them to have physical activity instead of spending time with their phones.
She said the State government has been encouraging athletes by giving prize money to international athletes in various disciplines. About 1,462 athletes were given over ₹4.5 crore so far in the State, she said.
The State government has given jobs under the sports quota to about 2,000 athletes. Ms. Roja then tried her hand at cricket, archery and other events on the occasion. Earlier, a rally was taken out by children and youth led by NTR Collector S. Dilli Rao and MLA Malladi Vishnu from IGCM Stadium to hotel D.V. Manor on M.G. Road.
