A 3-day sports festival “Harud” organised jointly by the J&K Sports Council and team Seven Stars under the My Youth My Pride programme commenced at the Indoor Hall of Nilandrusu, Bijbehara in south Kashmir today.
The event which shall be held over three days witnessed a massive participation of athletes and officials and officers from various government departments on day one.
The festival was inaugurated by Dr Basharat Qayoom, District Development Commissioner, Anantnag. He presided over the inaugural function as chief guest while Bashir Ahmad Bhat Joint Secretary J&K Sports Council was the guest of honour on the occasion. The duo was flanked by officers and officials from the Education, Revenue, Sports Council, and other government departments.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Basharat while applauding the role of organisers for the initiative said that sports is means to inculcate discipline and values in our youth which is in addition to the health benefits that it encompasses. Sports is the key to prudent society, the chief guest added while concluding.
Meanwhile, Bashir Ahmad Bhat addressing the massive gathering which also included more than five hundred participants on day one said that this year Sports Council collaborated with many organisations to extend the reach of its special sports initiative My Youth My Pride and we are open to any such collaboration in future as well. He said that initiatives like these help in the unearthing of our budding stars to realise their potential and thus far results have been very encouraging.
Secretary J&K Sports Council, Nuzhat Gull was scheduled to attend the inaugural function but due to an important event in Jammu she could not make it to the function, however, addressing the gathering over the phone, she said that the impressive thing about My Youth My Pride programme is that it massively involved other government functionaries in the endeavour and therefore the programme has not remained confined to Sports Council but has involved all other departments in the endeavour. Assuring the team Seven Star of all possible support, Nuzhat Gull said, the Sports Council is aiming at holistic growth and development of all athletes.
Sports competitions for both boys and girls in the games of Netball, Volleyball, Badminton, and other games were held today. The festival shall conclude on the 18th of this month.
