Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha inaugurated Synthetic Turf Football ground at Umakanta mini stadium today. The Synthetic Turf Football Ground has been constructed at the cost of Rs 5 crore and will be useful in all seasons.

Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha inaugurated Synthetic Turf Football ground at Umakanta mini stadium today. The Synthetic Turf Football Ground has been constructed at the cost of Rs 5 crore and will be useful in all seasons.

Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for installing flood lights for day-night matches on the ground and the construction works will be completed by the next two months.

The Chief Minister said, there is no scarcity of talented sportspersons in the state. Modern sports infrastructure is required to establish oneself in the world arena. That is why, the present state government from the beginning has been implementing different plans giving equal importance to overall development in the sports sector as well besides education. He also said, any kind of sport plays a significant role in brain development as well as building a healthy society by keeping the young generation away from addictions. He said, this synthetic turf football ground has been built according to the guidelines of international football organization, FIFA.

Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma said, it is a historic day for sports in the state. Despite different financial challenges, the present government did not compensate with the development of sports infrastructure of the state. Sport plays an important role in building a spirit of competition and cooperation among the youth as well as in building human character. The government has started to implement ‘Khelo Tripura, Sustho Tripura’ for sports infrastructure development in the state and to uplift the sports talent of the state.

There is scope for taking up any kind of sport as a profession as there is income and respect in every kind of sport, said Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sushanta Chowdhury. He said initiative was taken to construct such Synthetic Turf Football grounds in Jirania, Mohanpur and Belonia including Agartala under the central government’s special assistance scheme. But the fund allotment under the scheme stopped due to various reasons. These synthetic turf grounds have been constructed with the state budget of about Rs. 20 crore. The synthetic turf ground on Umakanta mini stadium is one of these. He thanked the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister for providing financial assistance for constructing these grounds. During the programme, Secretary of Youth Affairs & Sports department Dr. P. K. Chakraborty. Director of the department Subikash Debbarma, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Secretary of Tripura Sports Council Amit Rakshit and President of Tripura Football Association Pranab Sarkar were also present.