CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin announced that a new scheme ‘Kalaignar Sports Kit’ will be introduced to foster sports talent at the village level. He was speaking at the valedictory function of Khelo India Youth Games 2023 on Wednesday.
The initiative, dedicated to commemorating the birth centenary of Kalaignar Karunanidhi, will provide sporting kits to 12,000 village panchayats in the state. The inaugural distribution of the sports kit under the scheme will be on February 7 in Trichy.
At the valedictory function, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur said the Khelo India held in Tamil Nadu has witnessed almost equal participation of male and female athletes. He appreciated the state government for its unwavering commitment and successfully organising national and international sports events.
“The success of Khelo India Youth Games 2023 reaffirms Tamil Nadu’s commitment to sports and its capability to successfully organise and execute grand events of national and international significance,” said Udhayaidhi. He added that because of the state’s commitment to nurturing sports talents, Tamil Nadu stands in the top three in terms of medal count for the first time in the history of Khelo India games.
Highlighting the state government’s initiative of launching the Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation, he said, “The foundation’s commitment is to nurture and support the dreams of young sportspersons.” He added that a team of athletes, who participated in the Khelo India with the financial support of the Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation, bagged eight medals including five gold medals.