Gorakhpur: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated that the mafia mindset is the biggest enemy of youth power. "Whether it is an education mafia, professional mafia, sports mafia, drug mafia or a mafia in any field, if the mafia mindset grows, youth power will suffer the greatest loss." He emphasized that to protect youth power, it is necessary to give meaningful purpose to the sports culture promoted by the double-engine government with positive thinking.
CM Yogi was addressing the concluding and prize distribution ceremony of the two-day state-level Senior Prize Money Men's Wrestling Competition organised by the Sports Department and the District Wrestling Association on the occasion of Nag Panchami at the Gorakhnath Temple premises on Monday.
The Chief Minister stated, there was no place for sports and youth in the agenda of the previous governments. Those who are shouting 'youth, youth' today, in reality, youth was never on their agenda. They only want to misuse the youth. When they got the opportunity to remain in power, they did nothing for the interests of the youth. At that time, they had put everything under the grip of mafias.
CM Yogi said, "Any mafia who plays with the life of a young person, whether it is a cheating mafia, education mafia or mafia of any field, if it has played with the life of a young person, we are taking very strict action against it by confiscating its entire property."
CM Yogi stated, over the past 10-12 years, all of us have witnessed a changing India. There has also been a wide-ranging change in the field of sports culture here. New competitions have advanced through Khelo India, Fit India, MP and MLA sports competitions and Rural League.
He added, "You must have seen the recent Commonwealth Games, where the enthusiasm of India's players was high. India's players finished fourth and won medals for the country. Nine players from Uttar Pradesh also participated. 3 of them won medals. One gold medal, one silver and one bronze medal have been won for the country by players associated with Uttar Pradesh."
The Chief Minister said, the state government has brought in a system through its sports policy under which any player who wins a medal for the country will be directly given a government job. So far, we have given jobs to more than 500 players. Players have been given posts ranging from Assistant Director in the Sports Department to Deputy SP in the UP Police. Very soon, within the next one month, another 500 medal-winning players will be given jobs in the UP Police and other departments.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated informed, "Players from the state who win a gold medal in the Olympics are given 6 crore, those who win a silver medal are given 4 crore and bronze medal winners are given 2 crore rupees by the UP Government. On participating in the Olympics, assistance of 10 lakh7 is given, while 5-5 lakh is provided for the Commonwealth and Asiad. We also facilitate them for the National Games."
CM Yogi said, to promote sports and sports culture, society will have to join hands with the government, and voluntary organisations will also have to join. Instead of finding faults with others, we will also have to participate in such programmes at our own level.
The Chief Minister stated, "If someone runs a private academy, the government will provide assistance to it because it is working to groom the youth. Our wrestlers and old ustads used to run their own akharas. They should also be registered. Akharas should be constructed for them, and assistance will be provided for matting and other requirements. Arrangements will be made for assistance for coaches and managers."
He added by saying, in whichever field of sports the private sector extends support, the state's sports policy is to support it, and we will provide it full cooperation.
Referring to the sports culture of Ghazipur, CM Yogi informed that 2 players who won medals for the country in the Olympics, Lalit Upadhyay and Rajkumar Pal, have emerged and progressed from a private stadium in Ghazipur itself.
The Chief Minister further informed, "The government's effort is to have a playground in every village, an open gym, a mini stadium in every development block, a stadium in every district, a sports college at every divisional level and a Centre of Excellence in every sports college. The meaning of a Centre of Excellence is that, for a particular sport, we should take forward these competitions by bringing in the specific requirements of international standards and by engaging former players as coaches. In a way, the government has worked to create an ecosystem."
He stated, earlier, there was no Sports University in UP. We have established a Sports University in Meerut in the name of the magician of hockey, Major Dhyan Chand. Courses have now begun there. New competitions have also started there. World-class infrastructure is being provided. There is no shortage at the level of the double-engine government. The youth should take advantage of this opportunity.
He added, "The 2030 Commonwealth Games are going to be held in India, and no player from India should miss this competition. Preparations for this should begin in UP from now itself."
The Chief Minister stated, it should be remembered that the more our youth connect with sports and sporting activities, the more they will stay away from addiction. At present, two types of addiction are playing with the lives of the entire young generation. One is the addiction caused by drugs and other intoxicating substances. The drug mafia wants to hollow out India by consuming the young generation. We will have to be prepared to fight against it. Every aware citizen, every patriot, should prepare to fight against it. And the second is smartphone addiction. 90 percent of the time you spend on smartphones is futile. Only 10 per cent is actually useful to you, and the rest is not even for your use. If you can save 5-6 hours from it and devote just one hour to your body, you will become healthy. If the body is healthy, the mind will be healthy. If the mind is healthy, you will be able to make your best contribution towards making India strong and capable. You will remain free from mental stress. You will find yourself prepared to face any kind of challenge.
CM Yogi said, "The first rule for any player is self-discipline and self-restraint. A player wakes up on time, sleeps on time and follows the rules of diet and nutrition. He follows the guru-shishya tradition."
He informed, you must have seen that when a wrestler enters the akhara, he enters after paying obeisance to the coach or ustad. This feeling of reverence inspires him to move forward and gives him strength. Because the old players, wrestlers and old ustads are coaches who have put their lives through rigorous discipline and devoted themselves completely. It is a different matter that there were no resources or encouragement in their time. Otherwise, if they too had received encouragement and resources, they could also have taken India's name forward at the international level.
The Chief Minister stated, "Our wrestler is sattvic as well as a devotee of Bajrangbali. He worships Bajrangbali, who removes all kinds of suffering and gives strength, intellect and prosperity: 'Bal buddhi bidya dehu mohi, harahu kales bikar'."
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, the state government is very soon bringing its new 'Youth Policy'. Under the Youth Policy, we are going to organise a large number of events for the youth. We are going to take forward a large number of programmes. 'Abhyuday Coaching' will be taken to every college and university to prepare for competitive examinations. The state government has ensured that there should be one Employment Zone in every district. The meaning of an Employment Zone is that under one roof, a young person will receive skill training as well as employment.
Extending greetings to everyone on Nag Panchami and the third Monday of the month of Sawan, the Chief Minister said, "In ancient times, horsepower was the means of measuring strength here. Similarly, serpent power is the means of measuring and understanding spiritual power."
He added, there is a power within every human being, and the nadi that works to maintain balance in that power is the Sushumna Nadi. The foundation of power that our sages and seers witnessed in the spiritual world is what we see in the material world through the worship of Nag Devta on Nag Panchami.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath witnessed the final bouts for the Uttar Pradesh Kesari, Uttar Pradesh Kumar and Uttar Pradesh Veer Abhimanyu titles and encouraged the wrestlers by applauding them. On the occasion, he awarded Gautam Buddh Nagar's Akash, who won the Uttar Pradesh Kesari title, 1.01 lakh rupees and a mace, while the runner-up, Prashant Kumar of Ghaziabad, received 51 thousand rupees. Saurabh of Varanasi, who won the Uttar Pradesh Kumar title, was awarded 1.01 lakh rupees and a mace, while the runner-up, Amit of Jaunpur, received 51 thousand rupees. Suraj Yadav of Ghazipur, who won the Veer Abhimanyu title, was awarded 1.01 lakh rupees and a mace, while the runner-up, Janardan Yadav of Gorakhpur, received 51 thousand rupees.
In the same sequence, CM Yogi awarded 25-25 thousand rupees to the two wrestlers who secured third place in the Uttar Pradesh Kesari bout, Abhishek Khokhar of Meerut and Viresh Kumar of NE Railway; the two wrestlers who secured third place in the Uttar Pradesh Kumar bout, Ayush of UP Police and Deva of Gautam Buddha Nagar; and the two wrestlers who secured third place in the Veer Abhimanyu bout, Shivajit and Shivam of Varanasi.
At the concluding and prize distribution ceremony of the state-level prize money wrestling competition, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Sports and Youth Welfare Girish Chandra Yadav stated, "Under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh is touching new heights of development in every field, including education, healthcare and sports."
He added, in the past 9 years, historic work has been done under the leadership of CM Yogi to develop sports infrastructure and encourage players. The sports sector in UP has shone and smiles have returned to the faces of players. With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's vision, there is now a guarantee of employment in UP for medal-winning players in international competitions.
The ceremony was also addressed by Kushinagar MP Vijay Dubey.
On this occasion, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan, Mayor Dr. Manglesh Srivastava, MLAs Shriram Chauhan, Fateh Bahadur Singh, Vipin Singh, Mahendrapal Singh, Dr. Vimlesh Paswan, Pradeep Shukla and Sarvan Nishad, BJP State Vice President and MLC Dr. Dharmendra Singh, MLC Dhruv Tripathi, State Women's Commission Vice Chairperson Charu Chaudhary, former Mayor Anju Chaudhary, Dr. Vibhrat Chand Kaushik, Mahant Ravindradas of Kalibari, Sports Department Secretary Suhas LY, Sports Director Dr. RP Singh, BJP Regional President Vinod Rai, District President Janardan Tiwari, Metropolitan President Ramesh Pratap Gupta, District Wrestling Association President Dinesh Singh, District Kabaddi Association Gorakhpur President Arunesh Shahi, District President of the Hockey Association Manish Singh, Wrestling Association office-bearers Aditya Singh Aagu and Mayashankar Shukla, Regional Sports Officer Rajesh Sonkar, wrestling coach Chandravijay, along with a large number of sports enthusiasts, officials and dignitaries, were present.
