Punjab Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema today inaugurated the state level competitions of Kabaddi National Style under the season-3 of 'Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan' from Shaheed Bachan Singh Sports Stadium. While speaking on the occasion, Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that these games were started by the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann with the purpose of connecting the people of the state with sports culture.
He said that sports primarily contribute for the elimination of drugs from the society and their government is trying to keep Punjabis away from such evil signs through these sports. He said that along with these games, more tireless efforts were also being undertaken by his government to eradicate drugs.
Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that many players of Dirba have brought laurels to the state and the nation by showcasing their skills on international level. He said that in order to provide more facilities to the players, an indoor stadium will also be built for 11 games in the Shaheed Bachan Singh Stadium of Dirba.
He said that an amount of Rs.7 crore has been sanctioned for this indoor stadium which will be equipped with world-class facilities and the construction work will also be started very soon. Before starting the games today, Chief Guest Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema performed the flag hoisting ceremony.
After this, the march past saluted the chief guest and took an oath to play the games honestly. Under this sport extravaganza of Kabaddi, the competitions of female players will be conducted from today to 18 November, while the competitions of male players will be conducted from 19 to 21 November. The state level competition of weight lifting has started at Sunam under the Games Watan Punjab Diyan, while the state level competition of Wushu and Roller Skating were also being conducted in Sangrur.
On this occasion, SDM Parmod Singla, OSD Tapinder Singh Sohi, Chairman Milkfed Punjab Narinder Singh Shergill, Chairman Improvement Trust Pritam Singh Peetu, District Sports Officer Sangrur Navdeep Singh, Baljit Kaur, wife of Padma Shri Late Kaur Singh, Paramjit Kaur wife of International Kabaddi coach Late Gurmail Singh and coaches of various games, other dignitaries and players from all the districts of the state were present.