Rs 3.86 crore spent on sports in Kupwara in 2 years, Govt reveals in Assembly

Jammu, Mar 19: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday disclosed that over Rs 3.86 crore has been spent on sports infrastructure and events in Kupwara district over the past two years.

In response to a query by legislator Qaysar Jamshaid Lone in the ongoing J&K Budget session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, the government in its response said of over 3.86 crore spend on sports infrastructure and events in Kupwara district, the amount includes Rs 154.01 lakh expenditure on organising various sporting events and Rs 232.63 lakh on the development of playfields, apart from the construction of a state-of-the-art indoor stadium at Handwara under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) at a cost of Rs 386.24 lakh.

The minister in charge for youth service and sports stated that department has conducted multiple inter-school, zonal, district, provincial, and UT-level competitions across different disciplines.

A total of 4,28,647 students and non-school-going youth participated in these events over the last two years.

As per the response, the largest chunk of spending, Rs 94.98 lakh, was allocated to conduct various sports activities, while another Rs 49.93 lakh was spent on additional non-school sports programs.

The minister in charge in the legislative assembly said Kupwara hosted several district-level championships, including Wushu, Handball, Kabaddi, Rugby, Judo, and Squash, under government initiatives like "My Youth My Pride."

As per the government’s response one of the biggest investments has been the Rs 386.24 lakh multipurpose indoor stadium in Handwara— a state-of-the-art facility to boost indoor sports.

Additionally, 14 playfields were upgraded or developed across the district at a cost of Rs 232.63 lakh.

Some of the major playfield projects included in the response are Panditpora Langate at a cost of Rs 63.69 lakh, Ishpora with a cost involving Rs 22.93 lakh, Kulangam Rs 12.00 lakh, Galzoo Rs 17.65 lakh and Kutlari Mawar Rs 11.09 lakh.