Guwahati, Oct 6 (PTI) Over 6 lakh sportspersons have registered so far for the maiden all-Assam mega sporting event, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

The competitions of ‘Khel Maharan' will be held in five disciplines — athletics, football, volleyball, kabaddi and kho-kho — from November 1 to January 10, he said.

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Unveiling the jersey, logo and theme song for the event, Sarma said ‘Khel Maharan' is part of four similar programmes of ‘Jan Bhagidari' (people's involvement).

The other three programmes are ‘Amrit Briksya Andolan', a mega plantation drive which has concluded already, the ongoing ‘Amrit Kalash Yatra' and soon-to-be launched ‘Sanggaskritik Mahasangram' on the cultural field.

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"The Khel Maharan will be from the village-level to state-level. District commissioners have already started work on organising it, in consultation with experts and stakeholders," Sarma said.

He said teams will be initially formed at the village level, with the best players moving to the gaon panchayat/ward level teams.

The best players will then join the assembly constituency-level teams before moving on to district-level teams for competing at the state-level.

Sarma said the state-level competitions will be held in five to six venues, and the matches will be in two categories – under-19 and above-19 – for both males and females.

He said over six lakh players have already registered for various disciplines and the government is expecting the figure to reach 12-13 lakh.

"This will be big platform for talent identification. It will also enable us to engage our youth in a positive and constructive manner," he added.

Recalling the ‘war on drugs' launched soon after his taking charge as CM in 2021, Sarma said, "Our first war on drugs was through police action. Now, we want to engage the youths in these positive activities and keep them away from bad habits."

Sarma said customised jerseys for all 35 districts have been designed, which will be used by the districts in all future events too.

He added that winners at all levels of the ‘Khel Maharan' will be feted, with the state government earmarking Rs 62 crore for the entire event.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)