{"id":3600,"date":"2026-08-29T23:09:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T17:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=3600"},"modified":"2026-08-29T23:09:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T17:39:58","slug":"govt-committed-to-taking-chhattisgarhs-sporting-talent-to-global-platforms-cm-vishnu-deo-sai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=3600","title":{"rendered":"Govt committed to taking Chhattisgarh\u2019s sporting talent to global platforms: CM Vishnu Deo Sai"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"931\" data-id=\"3602\" src=\"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CM-25-1024x931.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CM-25-1024x931.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CM-25-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CM-25-768x698.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CM-25-1536x1397.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CM-25.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Raipur, Aug 29:  <\/strong>Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai honoured 126 outstanding players and coaches with State Sports Awards for three consecutive years (2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26) at a ceremony held at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium in Raipur on National Sports Day. The Chief Minister also distributed cash incentives to 540 other players, bringing the total tally to 666 sportspersons and coaches who received financial assistance and awards amounting to \u20b91.74 crore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Congratulating the sportspersons on the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, Chief Minister Sai said their discipline and hard work bring pride to both Chhattisgarh and the nation. He emphasised that state athletes are proving their mettle nationally and internationally, and the government remains committed to ensuring that a lack of resources or opportunities does not hamper deserving talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chief Minister Sai announced that the state government is taking concrete steps to secure the future of outstanding athletes. A merit list of 156 sportspersons has been released to pave the way for their direct appointment to government services. Providing career security alongside training, modern infrastructure, and exposure will encourage the youth to pursue sports professionally, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Highlighting the sporting potential of tribal regions, the Chief Minister noted that the Bastar Olympics has emerged as a major platform for nurturing grassroots talent. Youth participation rose from 1.65 lakh in the first edition to 3.91 lakh in the second edition, reflecting growing enthusiasm and positive socio-economic transformation in the region. Similarly, the Surguja Olympics and the successful hosting of the Khelo India Tribal Games have strengthened the state&#8217;s athletic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To elevate state sports infrastructure, Chief Minister Sai outlined plans for the Mukhyamantri Khel Utkarsh Mission, backed by a budget provision of \u20b9100 crore. The mission aims to build a comprehensive ecosystem covering early talent identification, professional coaching, modern equipment, and competitive exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modern sports facilities are being developed rapidly across the state, including sports complexes in Kunkuri, Raigarh, and Raipur. A dedicated sports academy is under construction in Nava Raipur at a cost of nearly \u20b967 crore to provide world-class facilities to archers. Additionally, an archery academy at Pandrapat, being built for \u20b918 crore, will specifically train youth from the Pahadi Korwa community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deputy Chief Minister and Sports Minister Arun Sao noted that athletes like Geeta Yadav and Madhu Sidar from the Bilaspur Sports Academy\u2014recently selected for the Indian national team for the Asia Cup\u2014have brought immense pride to Chhattisgarh. Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu and Lok Sabha MP Brijmohan Agrawal also addressed the gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Honourees across categories<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>2023-24:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Shaheed Rajiv Pandey Award:<\/strong> Monika Sahu (Fencing), Subhash Lahre (Weightlifting), Anup Yadu (Netball), Rajesh Rathore (Netball), Bhupendra Kumar Gadhe (Softball), and Parmanand (Para Swimming).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Kaushal Yadav Award:<\/strong> Dipanshi Netam (Fencing), Mahendra Dhurve (Volleyball), Amit Kumar (Athletics), and Rakesh Kadti (Softball).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Veer Hanuman Singh Award:<\/strong> Vikas Dhidhi (Para Judo).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Pankaj Vikram Samman:<\/strong> Sita Sahu (Para Wheelchair Fencing), Karan Bharti (Wushu), Priyanka Thakur (Wushu), Shashank Masih (Rifle Shooting), Rajiv Sahu (Table Tennis), Kajal (Table Tennis), Bhumika Upadhyay (Hockey), and Ajinkya Singh (Swimming).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Vinod Choubey Samman:<\/strong> Pravesh Chadha (Shooting), Vijay Bahadur (Handball), Laxman Lal Sahu (Wrestling), K Ravi Shankar (Table Tennis), and Giriraj Bagri (Table Tennis).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Chief Minister Trophy:<\/strong> Bilaspur Para Wheelchair Fencing Team (Senior Category).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2024-25:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Shaheed Rajiv Pandey Award:<\/strong> Gyaneshwari Yadav (Weightlifting), Ishan Bhatnagar (Badminton), Divyanshu Netam (Fencing), Bhoomi Gupta (Swimming), Sonam Sharma (Netball), Kalaram Patel (Para Athletics), and Lomendra Sahu.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Kaushal Yadav Award:<\/strong> Manas Bhattacharya (Badminton) and Sukhdev (Para Athletics).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Veer Hanuman Singh Award:<\/strong> Ashok Kumar Sahu (Kayaking and Canoeing).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Pankaj Vikram Samman:<\/strong> Suman Yadav (Football), Rohit Rajak (Hockey), Geetanjali Nirmalkar (Hockey), KS Sai Prashant (Table Tennis), Sushmita Som (Table Tennis), Ramkrishna Sahu (Para Swimming), Swati Sahu (Para Wheelchair Fencing), Saket Samuel (Rifle Shooting), Aman Tiwari (Wushu), and Mansi Dumbre (Wushu).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Vinod Choubey Samman:<\/strong> Prabha Hussain (Athletics), Sangeeta Rajagopalan (Badminton), Gama Yadav (Wrestling), and Pranay Nand Mazumdar (Table Tennis).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Chief Minister Trophy:<\/strong> Bilaspur Archery Team (Senior Women\u2019s Category).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2025-26:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Shaheed Rajiv Pandey Award:<\/strong> Vikas Kumar (Archery), Kiran Pisda (Football), Dipanshi Netam (Fencing), Sujay Tamboli (Badminton), Ayush Makhija (Badminton), Sanju Devi (Kabaddi), Reema Rai (Soft Tennis), Misha Kumari (Netball), and Lucky Yadav (Para Athletics).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Kaushal Yadav Award:<\/strong> Divyanshu Dewangan (Shooting), Vikram Raj (Archery), Divyansh Agrawal (Badminton), Sonika Rajwade (Athletics), Swapnil Pradhan (Wushu), Bhumika Choudhary (Netball), Pooja (Netball), and Nikhil Kumar Yadav (Para Athletics).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Veer Hanuman Singh Award:<\/strong> Ajay Deep Sarang (Weightlifting).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Pankaj Vikram Samman:<\/strong> Sanskar Diwan (Wushu), Vidya Singh (Wushu), Ankush Singh (Kho-Kho), Jhamita Sahu (Kho-Kho), Hemshikhar (Volleyball), Arandim Debnath (Table Tennis), Sneha Niyogi (Judo), Anmol Singh (Judo), Yash Kerketta (Boxing), Tukesh Sahu (Gymnastics), Semeshwar Singh (Para Swimming), Shrikant Pandey (Para Judo), and Khushal Yadav (Hockey).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shaheed Vinod Choubey Samman:<\/strong> Gangeshwar (Athletics), Khwaja Ahmed (Volleyball), Evan Kumar Jain (Weightlifting), Mohd Akram Khan (Volleyball), and Pradeep Joshi (Table Tennis).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Chief Minister Trophy:<\/strong> Senior Women\u2019s Archery Team and Junior Girls\u2019 Soft Tennis Team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Culture Minister Rajesh Agrawal, Technical Education Minister Guru Khushwant Saheb, MP Vijay Baghel, and MLAs Purandar Mishra, Motilal Sahu, and Sunil Soni were also present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raipur, Aug 29: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai honoured 126 outstanding players and coaches with State Sports Awards for three consecutive years (2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26) at a ceremony [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chhattisgarh","category-display","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3603,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions\/3603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}