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Message of Hon.

Mahindananda Aluthgamage, the Minister of Sports


It is for me a great pleasure that our efforts in launching the program planned to realize, through
long, medium and short term strategies the challenging task of creating a sports culture within
the country as envisaged in the Mahinda Chintana Policy have made an outstanding success.

The Department of Sports Development offers a major contribution in discharging the national
responsibility conferred upon the Ministry of Sports. The main responsibilities assigned to the
Department of Sports Development are upgrading infrastructure facilities when improving sports
from rural level to national level; identifying talented sportsmen and women and bringing them
up to national and international level; identifying coaches; conducting National and District
Pools and administering National sports clubs etc., and it is a matter of great pleasure that the
said responsibilities have been discharged with a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness.

The ‘Kreeda Shakthi’ Program which was introduced with the implementation of methods to
identify talented sportsmen and women from rural level up to national level and by way of
contributing to the well-planned program under the National Sports Policy has been a decisive
step to produce a second generation of sports. The Department of Sports Development has
achieved a considerable success, than ever before, in discharging the activities such as
implementing a joint program between the Provincial Ministries and the Central Government,
which had not been in a close relationship for a long period of time; appointment of sports
officers and distribution of sports equipment for the purpose of improving sports in the Northern
and Eastern provinces; obtaining services of foreign coaches and granting the resources required
by local coaches; conducting the National Pools throughout the year; providing the National
Sports Clubs with sports equipment and making available the required facilities for the
sportsmen and women belonging to National Pools.

The Department of Sports Development being a key institution offering an active contribution to
create a sports culture within the country in pursuance of the Mahinda Chintana Policy functions
with a great sense of responsibilities of its own and it is my firm belief that its substantial
contribution to improve infrastructure facilities for sports from the rural level and to construct
sports complexes best suited for the creation of talented sportsmen and women will definitely
add an enormous strength to build up a better future for sports in this country.

The valuable services rendered by the highly dedicated sports officers, coaches and instructors
for the prime purpose of promoting National sports are highly commendable and I would like to
offer my heartfelt gratitude to the staff including the Director General for their untiring efforts in
bringing the efficiency and productivity of the Department of Sports Development up to a higher
standard.

Mahindananda Aluthgamage
Minister of Sports

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