5-th edition of Khelo India Youth Games inaugurated by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur in Madhya Pradesh.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur attended the inaugural function of fifth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games in Madhya Pradesh today.

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Nishith Pramanik, Madhya Pradesh Sports Minister Smt. Yashodhara Raje Scindia and many dignitaries associated with sports were present in the programme.

On the occasion, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur said, "Today the fifth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games is being inaugurated, which is an example of the work that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done to take sports to new heights in the country. This event will run for 13 days in 9 cities and 6 thousand players will participate in it. This will be held in the great land of Madhya Pradesh. Last time when Khelo India Youth Games was held in Haryana, 12 records were broken out of which 11 records were broken by girls. Now let's see how many records are broken this time on the land of Madhya Pradesh".

While addressing the inaugural function of Khelo India Youth Games the Union Minister Shri Anurag Singh Thakur stated,"While players will break records, I urge the people of Madhya Pradesh to come to the stadium in record numbers and cheer the athletes so that Madhya Pradesh gets a chance to organise the next event like the National Games or any other event.

Shri Thakur also added, "The way people were welcomed on the land of Madhya Pradesh on Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is commendable and urged people to welcome the player the same way. He said that the budget of Khelo India has been increased to Rs 3200 crore for the next five years and the budget for sports has also been increased to Rs. 2000 thousand crore per year. Shri Thakur said that usually before any big tournament, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacts with the players and boosts their moral.

ShtibThakur said, "This time a game like Malkhamb has also been included in the Khelo India Youth Games and it is not just a regional but a national game. I hope it becomes an international game soon. Indigenous sports and talents are now gaining national and international recognition.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the sportsmanship should win in this event of Khelo India Youth Games. In this, about six thousand players from all over the country will display their sports skills for more than 900 medals, including about three hundred gold medals, in 27 sports events in the span of 13days. Eight cities of Madhya Pradesh Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Mandla, Balaghat and Maheshwar and Delhi are hosting various sports events of this Youth Games.

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