Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is yet to tap the immense potential it has in the sports field, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. The government will pursue the path of developing a sports culture in the state, he added.

Pinarayi was speaking after presenting the G V Raja awards of the sports council for excellence in the field. “The absence of a sporting culture is a challenge. The government is trying to tackle the issue by introducing a major change in the sports sector, starting from the school level. The ‘Health through sports’ programme was launched as part of this plan,” said the chief minister.

He further explained, “Steps have been initiated to improve the academic standards at sports schools. We will examine whether more institutions related to sports need to be set up. The body building athletes will be roped in to spread awareness on ‘healthy body, healthy society’ message.”

Speaking at the function, sports minister A C Moideen revealed that a project worth Rs 900 crore has been charted out to improve the sports infrastructure in the state. With the implementation of a new law regarding sports, the unscientific practices in the sector will end, he added.

At the function, the chief minister presented the G V Raja award to international sportspersons Anilda Thomas and Rupesh Kumar. The Olympian Suresh Babu Memorial life time achievement award was given to football coach Gabriel E Joseph.

Other award winners were Govt Brennen College, Thalassery for achieving several sports medals, P J Jose (Mathrubhumi) for best sports reporter, Musthafa Aboobacker (Madhyamam) for best photographer and Jijo George (Desabhimani) for best book on sports. They received the awards from speaker P Sreeramakrishnan.

Meanwhile, minister Moideen presented the award for best sports teacher in college to Fr P T Joy (Irinjalakuda Christ College) and in school to N S Sijin (Palakad Mundur HSS).

Sports council president T P Dasan, sports secretary Dr B Asok, sports council secretary Sanjayan Kumar, former athlete K M Beenamol and others attended the function.

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