Excelsior Sports Correspondent
KATHUA, Feb 12: The first leg of Girls Athletic Meet under ‘Pahal:Ek Kadam Nari Samman Ki Aur’ initiative of the District Administration to implement ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ flagship programme held today witnessed great response in six blocks of the district.
Under this initiative, long jump, shot put, 100 mtrs and 200 mtrs races, kabaddi and kho-kho events were organized at Blocks Kathua, Barnoti, Marheen, Hiranagar, Basholi and Billawar under the supervision of respective Zonal Physical Education Officers (ZPEO).
During the day long meet, 1072 girls of 78 educational institutions participated in the competition under different disciplines.
Earlier, a mass communication campaign for the event was held at panchayats and block level to educate the masses about the dedicated sports meet devised by the district administration to enhance the girl’s sex ratio. Massive response of girl’s students from private as well as government schools was reported wherein students shown great enthusiasm to the maiden sports event for girls.
The events were organized at GMS Chack Sheikhan in Kathua block, Kartar Public School in Barnoti block, Government Middle School Banyari in Marheen block, sports stadium in Hiranagar block, Naz Sports Stadium in Billawar block and Government Higher Secondary School in block Basohli.
Besides Girls sports athletic meet at block and district levels, sponsorship for poor girls for higher education/sports by corporate houses, mega awareness camps at tehsil level, adoption of gender critical villages are key attributes of the Pahal initiative of the district. Beside this award for best female performance in every field, girl of the month, signature campaign, baby shows, female skill development are other initiatives designed to meet the target of improved sex ratio in the district.
Kathua district is among the 100 gender critical districts of the country which have recorded low Child Sex Ratio (CSR). The systematic sensitization programme “Pahal: Ek Kadam Naari Samman Ki Aur” of District Administration Kathua was launched by Divisional Commissioner Jammu Dr Pawan Kotwal last week.
The Tournament at MS Chack Desa (Banyari) was held under the directions of DDC Kathua and guidelines of District Youth Services and Sports Officer Kathua, Sunil Kumar. The matches were held under the supervision of Kailash Chander, ZPEO Marheen.
The Tournament was inaugurated by Tehsildar Marheen, Jitender Singh in presence of Principal HSS Marheen, Sat Paul, ZEO Marheen, Baldev Singh, Headmaster Girls HS Marheen, ML Katoch and Sarpanch, Rakesh Choudhary. Around 150 girls participated in the competition.
Jamila Begum of M SChack Kahana won gold medal in shot put, Manisha Devi of HS Bann clinched gold in long jump and 100 meters sprint, while Bindu Devi of GHS Marheen claimed gold in 200 meters race.
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