JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said that sports icons are the true inspiration for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and added the government's efforts to take sports to villages have bridged the decades-old gap between talents and opportunities.

Sinha felicitated the medal winners of national and international competitions at an event here. He also inaugurated a state-of-the-art synthetic football turf costing Rs 4.83 crore at the parade ground in Jammu and laid the foundation stone of the synthetic hockey field at Bandhurakh worth Rs 4.85 crore.

"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, we have built modern sports infrastructure, providing world-class training and mentoring to the athletes and all other supports to ensure J&K's sports persons are able to achieve excellence in national and international sporting events," the Lt Governor said.

"Adequate sports infrastructure, new sports policy, upgradation in the quality of coaches, youth engagement drives at the panchayat level, LG rolling trophy and various other initiatives will create a robust sports culture involving all sections and secure attractive career track for the athletes," he added.

The Lt Governor congratulated all the athletes and coaches on their outstanding performances.

Sinha extended his felicitations to the para teams and women athletes for their remarkable feat in major sporting events.

He said the recent success in the Asian Para Games, National Games, National School Games of athletes and players from Jammu and Kashmir have kindled brighter hope of an upswing in performances in many more international events.

He also highlighted the Jammu and Kashmir administration's commitment towards the welfare of the sportspersons bringing laurels to the country and the Union Territory.

"We are determined to complete the recruitment process of sportspersons at the earliest," he said.

The Lt Governor said that a total of 702 sports projects have been completed in the last few years. Two athletic tracks, one each at Jammu University and Kashmir University, five synthetic hockey fields and two synthetic football fields have been constructed at Pulwama, Srinagar, Jammu, Poonch, Nagrota.

He said that more athletic tracks, synthetic hockey and synthetic football fields are coming up at Jammu, Poonch, Sopore, Srinagar, Shopian, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Jagti Nagrota and Rajouri.

The Lt Governor commended the endeavours of the Sports Department, Sports Council and associations for promoting sports activities in Jammu Kashmir.

Sinha interacted with the sportspersons and handed over sports kits and equipments to the budding players.

The officials said that 368 sportspersons from 17 disciplines received special cash awards amounting to Rs 1.35 crore directly in their bank accounts through the DBT mode. Rs 12 lakh was awarded to Aqsa Gulzar and Sohan Kamotra was awarded with Rs 8 lakh cash in Pencak Silat and Chess disciplines, respectively, they said.