Chandigarh, March 11 Haryana's Environment and Forest Minister Kanwar Pal on Saturday said Haryana is the first state that got an opportunity to host the All India Forest Sports Competition for the third time.
Speaking after inaugurating the 26th All India Forest Sports Competition at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, Pal took salute from the march past by contingents of sportspersons from different states and Union Territories.
He said earlier this competition was organised in 2013 in Panchkula and in 2002 in Faridabad.
The minister said he expressed gratitude to the Central government for giving Haryana the opportunity to organise these games again.
Pal said since the beginning of his political career, he has been associated with forest staff.
Due to the dense forest of Kalesar in his area of Yamunanagar district, the activity of forest personnel used to remain constant there.
They have seen that the forest personnel protect the forest wealth by patrolling day and night with great enthusiasm.
The Forest Minister said organising forest sports competition is not only an opportunity to further strengthen "our forest family, to brighten the name of our respective states and organisations, but this competition will also have a direct impact on our work and will also increase our efficiency".
"Sports teach us to forget our caste, religion, region and unite to achieve our goals by erasing our differences."
Pal said the population of Haryana is only two per cent of the total country's population, but three medals were won by Haryana players out of the total seven medals won by the country in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, including Neeraj Chopra's gold medal.
He said today the players of Haryana have brought laurels to the state in national and international competitions and, for this, the sports traditions of the state and the sports policies of the government have contributed significantly.
Ambala Lok Sabha MP Rattan Lal Kataria said the 26th All India Forest Sports Competition is being organised in his Lok Sabha constituency for which he expresses gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
He said world-class sports infrastructure has been developed in Panchkula and Khelo India Youth Games were successfully organised here last year.
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