IEP Chandigarh, August 8
After the success of the first edition of Kheda Watan Punjab Deya which was brainchild of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to create a sports culture in the state and make Punjab front ranking state in sports, this year the second Kheda Watan Punjab Deya will be organised for which the Sports department has already started preparations. Reviewing the preparations for the games at Punjab Bhawan, Meet Hayer said that by accepting the demands made by various players and Sports Associations, four new sports including Cycling, Equestrian, Rugby and Volleyball (Shooting) have been added this year. This time, a total of 34 sports will be held in which apart from the above four, Athletics, Hockey, Football, Volleyball (Smashing), Kabaddi (Circle And National Style), Handball, Boxing, Basketball, Wrestling, Judo, Archery, Shooting, Powerlifting, Lawn Tennis, Badminton, KickBoxing, Kayaking and Canoeing, Kho Kho, Gymnastics, Swimming, Netball, Gatka, Chess, Table Tennis, Roller Skating, Weightlifting, Softball, Rowing and Fencing. The Sports Minister said that competitions will be held in different age groups from under 14 to over 60 years of age to veterans. Athletics, Football, Kho Kho, Kabaddi (National and Circle Style) and Volleyball competitions will start from block level. Winners of block level and other games will be held at district level competitions and then district winners will be state level competitions. This time the state level competitions will be held in 20 districts instead of 10 districts last time by increasing the scope. The first, second and third place winners of the state level will be given a cash prize of Rs 10,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. Meet Hayer said that the Games will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in a grand opening ceremony for which the selection of the day and venue will be decided soon. The dates of the sports competitions will be announced soon after looking at the calendar of other national level sports competitions. There will be online and offline entries to participate in the games. During the grand closing ceremony, more than 10,000 winning players will be given cash prizes worth Rs 7 Cr. Special Chief Secretary Saravjit Singh, Director Harpreet Singh Sudan, Special Secretary Anand Kumar and Deputy Director Parminder Singh Sidhu were present in the meeting.
