Haryana seeks Dutch expertise to engage people in sports

Haryana Government has sought Netherland's expertise in increasing people's participation and making sports a way of life by utilising public spaces as mentioned in its new sports policy.
Haryana's Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij made this appeal at an interactive session held here with a Dutch delegation on 'Collaborative Benchmarking for Planning of Contemporary Sports Infrastructure in the State of Haryana'.
Briefing the Dutch delegation on the broad contours of the sports policy, Vij said the Haryana Sports and Physical Fitness Policy-2015 has an expanded vision to enable athletes of the state to move to the forefront of international sports.

"Ultimately, if the open spaces in state are enjoyed to the maximum by the public, the cities will become more liveable," he said as per an official statement released here.
The state's sports policy aims at increasing participation of residents of Haryana in sports between 2015 and 2020. It also seeks to redevelop sports infrastructure in the urban, semi-urban and rural areas to make the cities more liveable by using environmentally and financially viable solutions.
Vij pointed out there were public areas in Haryana which had room for improvement to maximise usage by the public. The Netherlands has various examples on how the government has approached this issue, the official statement added.

About 4.5 million of the 16.8 million people in the Netherlands are registered with one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country.

Vij said that the Haryana Government had been active in sports promotion because it recognises sports as a powerful means of enhancing society's health and well-being.
The success of Haryana athletes at major international games and competitions, particularly the London Olympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, demonstrates that excellence is an aspiration worthy of focused and continued pursuit.
The Dutch delegation comprised Vincent Van Noord, Dutch Sports, Ruben Dubelaar, Programme Director, Dutch Sports Officer and others, the statement said.