Reports | Anurag Thakur announces new cricket and sports academy for Ladakh

It seems that Thakur, who was once the president of the national cricket board in India (BCCI), has not let go of his cricketing roots after all. And so as he made the announcement regarding starting a sports academy, Thakur said that he had always made efforts to allow sportspersons to 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," Thakur was quoted as saying in the official statement by PTI.

The statement from the Union Minister’s office also mentioned that the 44-year-old also joined Army personnel in Leh to carry out a cleanliness drive to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 69th birthday. Modi, of course, has held ‘Swachh Bharat’ as his mission slogan since the first day he presumed office. Reiterating the PM’s idea, Thakur called for the people to become conscious and work together towards eliminating single-use plastic to combat the challenge posed by climate change.

It is perhaps worth noting that Thakur is only one of a number of Union Ministers to show up in Ladakh after the Centre announced that it would be carved out of Jammu and Kashmir, and made a Union Territory.