The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
JODA/BARBIL, JULY 09, 2023
“Sports is about discipline, hard work, and teamwork, it is about developing character and learning to overcome challenges,” said Jindal Steel & Power Chairman Naveen Jindal, while inaugurating the Jindal Sports Hostel at Soyabali in Keonjhar District on Sunday to promote rural sports talents.
“This sports hostel reflects our commitment to provide opportunities for young people from underprivileged backgrounds to excel in sports and education. It is a place where they can be provided with holistic nourishment to learn and grow,” said Jindal in his address.
“I am confident that the young people who stay here will go on to win laurels for India. They will become champions, role models, and leaders,” he added.
The Jindal Sports Hostel was jointly inaugurated by JSP Chairman Naveen Jindal and JSP Foundation Chairperson Shallu Jindal. The hostel, the first of its kind in the district, established by JSP Foundation, the social arm of Jindal Steel & Power, will provide state of the art residential facility to 60 children selected with sporting prowess to excel in sports and education.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Shallu Jindal said, “We believe that education and sports are essential for the development of youths. This hostel is another step forward by JSP Foundation towards creating a more prosperous and equitable India by providing equitable opportunities to underprivileged students. The hostel will nurture the sports and education career of residents by providing them with the best of the facilities, nutrition, coaching, schooling and skilling.”
She assured all the children of the tribal predominant region of Barbil with all-round support in the field of sports and education to grow in their respective fields.
The hostel is established in line with the Odisha Government’s focus on the development of sports infrastructure across the state. It is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including comfortable accommodations, modern sports equipment, fourth generation Gym and sports training facility with dedicated coaches. The Foundation will also provide the students with food, nutrition, and physical fitness training.
JSP’s President & Group Head-CSR Prashant Hota, Head-Raw Material & Slurry Pipeline Ashish Pandey, Barbil Unit Head Purushotham M D, Unit Head (Kasia Mines) Pramod Kumar Patra, Unit Head (Tensa Mines) Kamalakanta Nanda, HR Head Ashish Mohanty, Barbil’s CSR Head Vargil Lakra, Martial Arts Coach Pankaj Mahanta, children, their guardians, other senior company officials and community leaders from the nearby villages were present on the occasion.
The inaugural ceremony and Pravesh Utsav of the hostel were conducted by Prashant Hota with the support of Team CSR and Corporate Communications of JSP Barbil. Ashish Pandey extended his gratitude to everybody, including the local community members who participated in the programme.
JSP Foundation has been supporting and promoting youths of Keonjhar District to play Wushu and Kickboxing sports, forms of martial arts. The Foundation, in association with Odisha State Wushu Association, has been patronizing the Keonjhar District Wushu Team for more than a decade. The Foundation extends all infrastructural support to the Team, like the development of training centres, training facilities by national-level coaches, food and nutrition, and clothing and conveyance for the players.
Besides Sweta Rani, during the past years, JSP Foundation groomed Babulu and Manju Munda, who have bagged Silver and Gold medals in International Wushu Tournaments in Brazil, Brunei and Moscow, respectively.
