Gangtok Hosts 49th Junior National Badminton Championship Amid Statewide Children’s Day Drives

Sikkim witnessed a vibrant convergence of national-level youth sports, environmental stewardship, and child welfare initiatives on Saturday as the 49th Junior National Badminton Championship officially kicked off in Gangtok, coinciding with widespread Children’s Day celebrations organised by the Forest and Environment Department across 37 locations statewide. Hosting one of India’s premier age-group sporting tournaments, the state capital welcomed top young shuttlers from across the country following comprehensive logistical and infrastructural preparations personally reviewed by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to ensure world-class playing conditions and hospitality. Alongside the sporting spectacle in Gangtok, the state government marked Children’s Day—celebrated annually on November 14—by seamlessly blending ecological conservation with community participation and long-term financial security for children. Through coordinated outreach across 37 distinct sites spanning Sikkim’s districts, the Forest and Environment Department spearheaded awareness campaigns, local cleanliness drives, and large-scale sapling plantation programmes under the flagship ‘Mero Rukh Mero Santati’ (My Tree, My Progeny) initiative. Introduced to foster a lifelong emotional and ecological bond between families and nature, the green scheme encourages parents to plant trees to commemorate the birth of a child, nurturing both environmental sustainability and generational responsibility. Adding a vital financial welfare dimension to the day’s festivities, authorities also distributed passbooks to 620 eligible beneficiaries under the ‘Sikkim Shishu Samriddhi Yojana’, a dedicated state welfare scheme designed to secure the future educational and developmental needs of young children through structured financial support. By integrating grassroots environmentalism, direct financial empowerment for hundreds of young beneficiaries, and the hosting of a prestigious national championship, Saturday’s events underscored the state administration’s holistic focus on nurturing healthy, financially secure, and environmentally conscious future generations while positioning Sikkim as an emerging hub for national sporting events in the Northeast.