'Equal importance given to development of educational, sports infrastructure'

New Delhi: The Delhi government has given equal importance to the development of educational as well as sports infrastructure, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday.

Inaugurating a three-day Annual Zonal Athletic Meet of Education Zone-2, Sisodia said the Delhi government is promoting sports by providing required support and facilities to the athletes

. "The Delhi government is promoting sports by providing all the required support and facilities to the players. An example of this is the sports complex of East Vinod Nagar, which used to have rough tracks and no proper facilities. But now, it has state-of-the-art infrastructure for sportspersons.

Synthetic tracks and many required facilities have also been provided to prepare players for sports championships," he said. More than 900 students from various schools of Zone-2 will participate in the three-day athletic meet. Interacting with the students participating in the athletic meet, Sisodia said, "The budding players are extremely hard working and will make the country proud by winning medals in world championships in the future. The government aims to provide all the sports facilities to these players to ensure this."

He assured the athletes that "lack of money" will "never hinder" their progress in the national capital. "We started schemes for players like 'Play and Progress' and 'Mission Excellence' under which the expenses of coaching, diet and equipment of the best players are borne by the government.

This gives enough time for the players to work hard and focus on winning medals for the country," he said. Under the 'Play and Progress Scheme', financial assistance of up to Rs 2.5 lakh per year is provided to talented players of 13-14 years, while under the Mission Excellence, assistance up to Rs 16 lakh per year is provided to the players performing well at the national and international levels.