Come forward for dev of sports, PM to pvt sector

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seen with the national sports award recipients at the city's Osmani Memorial Auditorium Thursday. — PID

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday called upon the private organisations and individuals to supplement government efforts for development of the country's games and sports, reports UNB.
She made the call while addressing the National Sports Award distribution function at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city.
Hasina said her government has undertaken various short- and long -term plans for the sports sector to improve the standard of the country's games and sports.
She said games and sports are vital for maintaining one's sound health and mind as it teaches about discipline, perseverance, dutifulness, responsibility and patience and create competitiveness among the players. "It helps make life beautiful, smooth and speedy."
The government is implementing various initiatives to elevate the status of the country in the regional and international sports arena.
Terming domestic sports as part of national culture and heritage, the premier underscored the need for protecting all kinds of local games and sports and the new generation should be familiarised with those.
She expressed her firm belief that Bangladesh would be able to earn a respectable position in the world's sports arena as it won the struggle for language and Bangla now transcended to 193 countries of the world.
Hasina said various programmes are being implemented from rural to urban areas for creating a congenial atmosphere in the sports sector and enhance facilities apart from the construction of sports infrastructures.
The premier said the government is picking up talented players from the grassroots level under a talent haunting programme to turn them into national-level players by imparting them regular, intensive, modern and scientific trainings.
Apart from improvement of games and sports, the government has enacted the Bangabandhu Krirhasebi Welfare Foundation Act with an initial fund of Tk 6.20 crore to provide assistance to the insolvent sportspeople during their bad days.
"Our next generation will be the best in the world in knowledge, science, games and sports, and they would be the golden men of the golden Bangla," she hoped.
Describing her government as a sports-friendly one, the Prime Minister said her government is extending all-out cooperation to all concerned in flourishing the country's games and sports.
"Most of the successes in the country's sports sector came during the tenure of Awami League government as it gave importance to sports and extended all supports, including infrastructure development," she said.
She mentioned the success of Bangladesh cricket team in acquiring the ICC test status as well as achieving One Day and Test status in cricket during the 1996-2001 term of her government.
Referring to the successful arrangement of the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh won the record number of 97 medals, including 19 gold medals in the game.
Mentioning the hosting of ICC T20 cricket tournament to be held in Dhaka in 2014, Hasina directed the authorities concerned to start the preparation right now to make the event a world-class one.
The Prime Minister handed over the National Sports Awards of 2008 and 2009 to 19 players and sports organisers.
Each recipient was given a gold medal, Tk 20,000 and a certificate.
The award recipients of 2009 are- Dewan Shafiul Arefin Tutul (footballer and organiser), Badal Roy (football), AM Naimur Rahman Durjoy (cricket), Shamsul Alam Monju (football organiser), Anjan Chowdhury Pintu (organiser), Shahed Asgar Chowdhury (organiser), Hamida Begum (athletics and organiser), Shamim Ara Toly (athletics) (posthumous), Mohammad Mohsin (hockey), and Mostafa Kamal (volleyball).
In 2008, the award was given to Sunil Krishna Dey (football), Lt (retd) Mohammad Amzad Hossain (athletics), Senior Warrant Officer (retd) M Lutfor Rahman (swimming), M Ruhal Amin (weight lifting), Khandakar Abul Hasan (volleyball), Saidul Haque Sadi (table tennis), Brigadier General M Showkat Hossain (body building), Syed Abdul Majid Koran (cricket), and Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (kabadi).
State Minister for Youth and Sports Ahad Ali Sarkar and secretary for youth and sports Mahbub Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.