Anurag Thakur announces sports academy for Leh, joins cleanliness drive

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday announced that a cricket and sports academy will be set up in Ladakh to ensure that talented athletes of the region get the required training to excel.

According to a statement from his office, Thakur also joined Army personnel in Leh to carry out a cleanliness drive to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 69th birthday.

He said people must become conscious and work together towards eliminating single-use plastic to combat the challenge posed by climate change.

Making the announcement regarding starting a sports academy, Thakur, a former BCCI president, said he had always made efforts to allow sportspersons have a platform to develop themselves.

"I firmly believe that sports help in building character and thus I propose to set up a cricket and sports academy in Leh to ensure that youth of the region gets equal opportunity and a platform to excel," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

A number of Union ministers has visited the region after the Centre announced that Ladakh will be carved out of Jammu and Kashmir, and made a Union territory.