The Punjab Cabinet on Saturday approved the new sports policy, 2023, which lays emphasis on training, incentives, robust infrastructure, and jobs for athletes.
The decision in this regard was taken by the council of ministers in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, according to an official statement.
The new policy is the strategic blueprint to promote sports in the state by developing a pyramidal sports infrastructure from village, cluster, district and state levels with an adequate number of coaches and experts who will provide basic training, guidance in athletics, games and fitness at the cluster level, said the statement.
The policy also focuses on increased training in locally popular games at the cluster level, professional coaching at the district level and even more sophisticated training at the state level, for excellence at state, national and international levels, it said.
It lays thrust on identifying talent in sports at the grass root level and training it in a scientific manner and providing assistance to prepare budding players for national and international level events including para and specially abled sportspersons, the statement said.
The policy also focuses on providing opportunities for training of coaches at national and international levels and it also emphasizes putting sports on a high pedestal through rewards and job opportunities for outstanding sportspersons.
For this national and international league, competitions, games and tournaments will be hosted and organised, the corporate sector will be involved in the development, management of sports and an IT platform will be developed and deployed to monitor and enhance the performance of players and bring together all stakeholders, it said.
The Cabinet also approved “The Punjab Custom Milling Policy for Kharif 2023-24” as per which rice mills will be linked online to the procurement centres.
The paddy allocation to rice millers will be automatic through an online portal and paddy will be stored at the eligible rice mills as per their entitlement and agreement executed between the state agencies and the rice millers, it said.
The Kharif marketing season 2023-24 will start on October 1 and the procurement of paddy will be completed by November 30.
The cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to give a one-time exemption to owners of more than 15 years old vehicles, which are scrapped as per the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF), from the payment of interest and penalty on the pending Motor Vehicle Tax.
This exemption will be applicable for a period of one year from June 28, it said.