24-06-2025
Make sports a career, CM urges youth
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Monday said the students and youths can now think of making sports a career apart from getting employment in industries by availing various skill training imparted by the State government. Majhi said this while addressing the State-level 'Yuva Shakti Samabesh' (Youth Power Congregation) at Aska where he laid the foundation stone for various development projects valued at Rs 550 crore for Ganjam district.
Describing Odisha as a State having endless possibilities, Majhi said his government has been giving much importance to sports and therefore spending a lot for developing sports infrastructure across the State. The State has been constructing stadiums in all 314 blocks of Odisha and for the purpose, Rs 4,124 crore has been earmarked to be spent in four years, he said. With facilities available in blocks and gram panchayat levels, the Chief Minister said the village youths can also get opportunities and exhibit their talent in sports.
'They can easily make sports as a career, earn name, fame along with money,' Majhi said, adding that apart from cricket, hockey and football, the State is also promoting Kabaddi and other games. Encouraging the youth, Majhi said that one should know his or her own talent and work for its development. He said of the 4.5 crore population of Odisha, around 1.70 crore people are in the age group of 15-35 years.
'When more than one and a half crore youth become successful, then Odisha will become the growth engine of India, developed as the best State in the country,' he said. Highlighting the industrialisation of the State, he said 13 lakh employment opportunities will be created when an investment of Rs 17 lakh crore is grounded in the State. The investment intents have come through Make In Odisha Conclave and the State government has not wasted a single moment to implement the proposals, the Chief Minister said.
Majhi said his government, during one year, has already provided government jobs to 28,346 youths and committed to give jobs to 1.5 lakh youths in five years. The Chief Minister said the State has set a goal of becoming $500 billion economy by 2036 and $1.5 trillion economy by 2047. Therefore, the youths will have a key role in achieving this goal of Odisha, he said.
On this occasion, Majhi laid the foundation stone for various development projects which include those for irrigation and road widening. He asked officials to prepare a revised detailed project report for the development of Maa Tara Tarini temple. The Chief Minister said the State will provide for a world-class industrial training institute at Polsara. Attacking the previous BJD regime, the Chief Minister said the BJP government, within one year, has already provided 11.25 reservations for the students belonging to the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) category. 'The previous BJD government failed to give justice to SEBCs in 24 years, while we have done it in one year,' Majhi claimed.
Steel and Mines Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena, Sports and Youth Services Minister Suryabanshi Suraj and others attended the programme.
