JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today flagged off a batch of Girls contingent for a 15 day Ski Course and Training to be conducted at Gulmarg.While interacting with the trainee skiers, the Lt Governor asked the youth to grab opportunities provided by the government, and positively transform their energies in the right direction.”J&K Government is creating an appropriate platform for productive engagement of youth and to give necessary exposure to the budding sportspersons; besides providing access to the best of the coaches to hone the skill sets of the youth”, observed the Lt Governor.He said that the UT Government is dedicated towards identifying and promoting the young talent of J&K by providing sustained handholding with necessary equipment, infrastructure and facilities to nurture the skills.The Lt Governor directed the Department of Youth Services and Sports for ensuring best arrangements and facilities for all the trainee skiers and keeping staff available at all the difficult locations for assistance of the trainees.The trainees who have already completed their Ski course also shared their experiences and thanked the UT Administration for providing them with the opportunity to be trained by best coaches and trainers.It was informed that food, lodging, equipment, transportation, training, coaching, lift charges, heating arrangements and other facilities are being provided free of cost to the trainees.The current batch consisted of girls from different Government run schools from Poonch, Kathua, Jammu, Ramban, Kishtwar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Anantnag, Baramulla and Kupwara. A total of 600 budding skiers (Boys and Girls) in a 2 and a half month long programme will be trained under Olympian Gul Mustafa and other experienced coaches and trainers.Farooq Khan, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Sarmad Hafeez, Secretary to the Government, Youth Services and Sports Department; Dr. Saleem-ur-Rehman, Director General, Youth Services and Sports, J&K and other officers were present on the occasion.
