CM Punjab launches Jashan-e-Azadi 2024 Sports Festival in all districts

LAHORE – The Chief Minister of Punjab has announced the Jashan-e-Azadi 2024 Sports Festival, which will be held from July 23 to August 24 in various districts of Punjab. Over 900 students from across the province will participate in eight different sports events. Women will compete in five sports while men will participate in three. This initiative by the Higher Education Department (HEC) aims to showcase and develop the best talent in Punjab, which can potentially produce future Olympic, Asian and global medallists. The colleges of each district will organise the events from their own budgets, which will foster local involvement and support. Dr Syed Ansar Azhar, Director of Public Instruction (DPI) Colleges Punjab, stressed on the importance of promoting sports in educational institutions. “With over 2.2 million students studying in Punjab, this initiative will revive sports activities in our previously desolate grounds,” he said. Dr. Giving a detailed schedule of events, Ansar said that volleyball (men and women) will be held in Gujranwala from July 23 to 26 with 200 players and officials participating, table tennis (men and women) in Rawalpindi from July 29 to August 1 with 162 participants, badminton in Bahawalpur from August 3 to 7 with 72 players, boys and girls hockey in Rawalpindi from July 29 to August 1, women’s cricket, men’s hockey and kabaddi in Lahore from August 11 to 14 with 360 players, men’s cricket in Sargodha from August 19 to 24. Dr. Ansar stressed that performing athletes will be nurtured by setting up sports academies in various districts of Punjab. “These academies will provide regular training so that talented athletes are not wasted.” He also addressed the need for funding to build these academies and urged the CM to release the necessary resources for this infrastructure.