Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday interacted with participants from various universities ahead of the Khelo India University Games 2021 in Bengaluru.
The Union Minister paid a surprise visit to the Jain University Global Campus-venue for 13 disciplines including new additions Mallakhamba and Yogasana.
He walked to various sporting arenas and took cognizance of the arrangements made for the participants to ensure they have a memorable event at the KIUG.
Reminiscent of his playing days as a cricketer, the minister said, "Jain University along with the Karnataka State Government is doing a fantastic job of hosting these events with best facilities for athletes taking part in the Khelo India University Games. Watching these athletes here today, I am reminded of my University days when I played cricket. In some of the tournaments held in places like Darbhanga and Samastipur in Bihar, the facilities used to not be up to the mark. But infrastructure has improved so much today and you can see the kind of facilities being provided here for athletes. Our initiative through the KIUG is to provide athletes with a platform that is on par with international standards."
Advising the budding athletes of the country, Thakur said, "Play in the spirit of sportsmanship. I would advice them to propagate clean sports and not use performance enhancements drugs. That is why we have NADA here to give athletes the right information and create more awareness about doping particularly among young athletes at the university level."
The minister arrived at the Volleyball venue in the morning when the matches between HRM (Himachal Pradesh University) and AWU (Adamas University West Bengal) in the women's section and SRM university Chennai and AWU in the men's section were underway. He interacted with both the teams and wished them good luck for their upcoming matches. He also had an interaction with the referees and the audience too. Apart from this, the minister indulged in a round of volleyball himself.
( With inputs from ANI )
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