Odisha organises a sports meet for tribals, first state in India

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday inaugurated the Tribal Sports Meet 2017, a first-of-its-kind event in the country to promote sports among tribals in Odisha.

The government claimed that Odisha was the first state to organise a sports meet, exclusively for members of the tribal community. Launching the meet from the secretariat through video conferencing, Naveen exhorted the tribal children to “win and bring glory to Odisha and India”.

The Sports Meet, open for players from 14 years to 35 years of age; started across the State. Various competitions including individual and team sports events were kicked off at 119 tribal blocks and 195 non-tribal blocks of the State.

“Many players from Odisha have captained the Indian hockey team. Tribal people have extra-ordinary sports talents, whose reflections are found in their culture and lifestyle,” he said. He hoped that such meets would help to hone sporting skills of the tribal children.

“There are 62 tribal communities in Odisha. This event is being organised to hunt for talent among them and groom their skills,” said sports minister Chandra Sarathi Behera.

The winners from district and state levels would be awarded with the prizes amounting to Rs 1.08 crore and Rs 5.55 lakh, respectively.

ALSO READ: Bhubaneswar to have an artificial lake near Saheed Nagar