Jagan Sets Up Mega Sports Event – ‘Aadudaam Andhra’

Andhra Pradesh will witness a series of mega sports tourneys in the next few months. Aiming to identify talented sportspersons in rural areas and take them into the limelight, the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) is making all arrangements for the mega sports event ‘Aadudaam Andhra’.

The event would be launched on October 2 marking the birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.

As part of it, as many as 2.99 lakh sports matches will be held in five phases, according to the sports officials.

Sports kits would also be disbursed to the village and ward secretariats. Boys and girls aged above 17 years have been invited to take part in the cricket, volleyball, badminton, kabaddi, 3K marathon, yoga, tennicoit competitions.

Similarly, competitions would be held in some traditional sports, usually played in rural areas. Those interested will have to approach the village and ward secretariats for participation in the matches.

A committee, under the leadership of the government principal secretary, has also been formed to supervise the matches.

As the inaugural of the event is scheduled in October, SAAP has also chalked out an action plan to provide training to the identified players. Sports kits would also be provided to the aspirants through village/ward secretariats. Badminton rackets, rings, cricket kits and volleyballs would be distributed to the secretariats. A list of the players would also be readied to start training for them.

The AP government is taking up ‘Aadudaam Andhra’ to promote sportsman spirit among youth and lay the foundation for a healthy scoeity.

The programme will be held annually under the supervision of a 13-member committee drawn from various departments, led by the principal secretary of the government.

The committee will also look into the food, accommodation and organisation of the events. Players exhibiting talent will be provided better training to transform them into national-level players.

The matches under the mega sporting event will be held for nearly 1.5 months.

All departments of the government will get involved in organising the event. Sports kits necessary for the players would be provided to them and grounds necessary for their training would be identified soon, said G. Vani Mohan, Principal Secretary, Youth Services.

Initially, 1.5 lakh matches will be held in 15,000 village/ward secretariat limits. Those selected in these matches will be made to play in 1.42 lakh events to be held at the mandal-level. Over 5,250 matches will be held at the constituency-level, 312 at district-level and 250 at the state-level.

The SAAP will send the standard operating procedure (SOP) to the respective district collectors to enable them begin the programme.