Members of Odisha Legislative Assembly visits Kalinga Sports Complex

Bhubaneswar: Members of Odisha Legislative Assembly led by Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha on Wednesday visited the existing and upcoming sports infrastructure and High Performance Centres within the Kalinga Sports Complex.

The delegation visited the major upcoming projects including the Indoor Athletics Stadium, Indoor Aquatic Centre, Badminton High Performance Centre, Hockey High Performance Centre, Tennis Court, and Staff Accommodation which are part of the Kalinga Expansion and have been taken up under 5T initiative of Government of Odisha. They also visited the existing Hockey Stadium and HPC, Sports Climbing HPC, Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre, Shooting HPC, Swimming HPC and Weightlifting HPC.

They later enjoyed the much-awaited tackle between India against Bangladesh at the SAFF-U20 Championship ongoing there.

Minister for Sports and Youth Services, Tusharkanti Behera shared, “It gives us immense pleasure to have Speaker and Members of the Odisha Legislative assembly amongst us here at the Kalinga Stadium. Under the leadership of Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik and his vision, Sports for youth, youth for future’, sports has been accorded priority status and this has propelled Odisha to be a front runner for the top sporting destination in India. Sports and Youth Services Department has been investing in upgrading and developing sports infrastructure, training and coaching and creating opportunities from block to state level so Sports flourishes in the State and we have larger representation from Odisha at the national and international level.”

Chief Secretary, Govt of Odisha, Suresh Mahapatra emphasised on the importance of giving adequate training, coaching, infrastructure, Sports Science and nutrition to athletes so they can train and transition to High Performance Centres and excel at national and international platforms. Within a short span, athletes from Odisha have been making their mark in Swimming, Athletics and Hockey and in coming years Odisha will produce many players.