PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate renovated stadium in Jaffna via video conferencing

NEW DELHI: Reaching out to the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with president Maithripala Sirisena will inaugurate the renovated Duraiappah Stadium in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna via video conferencing on June 18. While Modi will speak from India, Sirisena will be at Jaffna, where he will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

The stadium has been renovated with Indian assistance by Lankan company Wahid Constructions over a period of two years. Apart from renovating the main and secondary pavilions, a gymnasium has been built in the stadium. A playground with a 400 metre track has been laid, and floodlights have been set up besides setting up of adequate sanitary and garbage disposal facilities.

The primary beneficiary of the stadium will be the 50,000 school students in the Jaffna peninsula, who had lacked sports facilities due to three decades of insurgency. Sirisena has been reaching out to the Tamil minority and have undertaken several steps including returning of land — occupied by the Army — to the community, releasing political prisoners, appointing Tamils at the senior positions among other initiatives.