Siddaramaiah bats for the development of sports, to raise quota for recruitment in police department

Mangaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the state government will increase the sports quota over recruitment in the police department from 2 to 3 percent as a measure to encourage sports.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Yonex Sunrise Chief Minister's Mangalore India International Challenge 2025 Badminton tournament, organised by Karnataka Badminton Association and Dakshina Kannada Badminton Association to be held at New Urwa Indoor Stadium in Mangaluru from October 27 to November 2.

The sports quota will be applicable to the recruitment of the police officials of Deputy SP and Sub Inspector ranks and also for police constables.

Also, two percent of the state government jobs are reserved for the medalists from Karnataka who take part in National and International tournaments.

The state government has been paying Rs 13 lakh towards the fee of 60 sportspersons who take part in the National and international sports tournaments, the CM meanwhile said.

The state government will award Rs five crore, Rs three crore and Rs two crore respectively to the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalists from Karnataka, the CM further said and pointed out that the country has won less medals in Olympics keeping in mind the population of the country.

Stating that badminton is one of the popular games in the world, Siddaramaiah recalled playing badminton apart from other sports during his High School days. He said he wasn't a pro in sports but ensured that he took part in each of them.

The Chief Minister lauded the achievements of players Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhi, terming them as the finest badminton players in the world.

The international badminton tournament is being organised for the first time in Mangaluru. The foundation for the badminton stadium in Urwa was laid by him at a project cost of Rs 35 crore initially. The BJP government which came later, reduced the project cost to' Rs 20 crore. Again when the Congress government came into power, an additional Rs 15 crore was sanctioned to finish the work and he inaugurated the same stadium, he said.

Badminton players Arun Poovaiah and Ashok Poovaiah were felicitated by the Chief Minister on the occasion. CM Siddaramaiah lauded Poovaiah brothers' sports achievements and called upon others to emulate them.

Chief Guest of the programme and district in-charge and Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said that efforts are being carried out by the state government to boost the sports and tourism sectors in Mangaluru by creating a suitable atmosphere, ensuring faster growth through infrastructure development while attracting investments towards overall growth of the state. International kite and surfing festivals are being conducted, he said.

Karnataka Badminton Association president Manoj Kumar said that 20 percent of the players taking part in the international badminton tournament are from Karnataka. He meanwhile requested the CM to sanction three acres of land in Bangaluru towards the state of the art Badminton Coaching Centre.

DK Badminton Association president Sathish Kumar Shetty said that the state government has sanctioned Rs one crore towards the international badminton tourney.

The CM later interacted with the participants and played a game, on the demand of the organisers.