Jaipur: As part of an effort for mega-outreach ahead of Assembly elections, the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government will launch a sports event aiming to engage over 50 lakh people panning across the rural and urban areas of the poll-bound state, officials said on Sunday.
The officials said that there was an "overwhelming" response to the first edition of the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games organised in August last year, in which around 30 lakh people participated. Riding on its success, the government decided to spread the reach of the games from rural to urban areas, they added.
The 'Rajiv Gandhi Rural and Urban Olympic Games' will kickstart on June 23, marking the International Olympic Day, and come to its conclusion on August 29, the National Sports Day, the officials informed.
Govt plans to publicise its schemes
The government, through the mega event, plans to publicise its schemes and programmes run for the people during its five-year rule. This comes as the registration for the games crossed the official target of 50 lakh. According to the officials, nearly 55 lakh people have registered for the games.
Among the games which will be played in both rural and urban areas include tennis ball cricket, Kabaddi, volleyball, football and kho kho. Meanwhile, there are games that will be exclusively played in rural and urban areas. Shooting ball and tug of war will feature in rural areas while athletics and basketball will be exclusive to urban centres, officials informed.
Over 54.70 lakh people registered for sports event
"More than 54.70 lakh people have registered for the upcoming Rajiv Gandhi Rural and Urban Olympic Games in Rajasthan, which is more than the target set by the government,” an official said, further claiming that this is the highest number of players in any sports competition in the world.
Over 42.28 lakh people have registered for the rural games, while more than 12.43 lakh registrations have been received for the urban games, Sports Department Secretary Naresh Kumar Thakral said.
"These games will be held at the gram panchayat and municipality level across the state. The enthusiasm is high among the participants for the games,” he said.
He said that maximum registrations have been done for kabaddi with 12.69 lakh applicants for the rural games. Of these, 9.89 lakh are males, and 2.80 lakh females. Tennis ball cricket has received tremendous response in the urban games with 2.74 lakh people registering for it. He said the competitions will be organised at three levels in rural games and four levels in urban games.
Rajasthan will go to Assembly polls later this year, in which Congress is looking to retain power while the BJP is aiming to oust the Ashok Gehlot government.
(With PTI inputs)
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