Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut, in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. The university will be established at Salawa and Kaili villages of Sardhana town in Meerut at an estimated cost of about Rs 700 crore.
One of the key areas of focus for the prime minister is inculcating sporting culture and establishing world-class sporting infrastructure in all parts of the country, and the establishment of this university at Meerut will be a major step towards fulfilling this vision, a government official said.
Laying the foundation stone of the university, PM Modi also hit the gym, sending 'fit India' message across the nation. Take a look.
"This university worth Rs 700 crores will provide international sports facilities to the youth. Every year, more than 1000 girls and boys will graduate from here. Earlier, only criminals and mafias used to play & tournaments of illegal land grabbing happened," PM Modi said at the foundation stone laying ceremony in Meerut.
The sports university will be equipped with modern and state-of-the-art sports infrastructure, including synthetic hockey and football grounds, a ground for basketball, volleyball, handball and kabaddi, lawn tennis court, gymnasium hall, synthetic running stadium, swimming pool, multipurpose hall and a cycling velodrome.
It will also house facilities for shooting, squash, gymnastics, weightlifting, archery, canoeing and kayaking among other facilities.
The university will have the capacity to train 1,080 sportspersons including 540 female and 540 male sportspersons, the statement said.
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