Bindo calls upon youth to take up sports
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Adding to the recent makeover of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, floodlights worth Rs 5-crore will be installed inside the complex with the North Eastern Council (NEC) approving the required funds.
The approval of the floodlight project at the JNSC would be a major boost to the football infrastructure in the state which has seen a vast improvement of late after the installation of two synthetic football turfs, at Third Ground (sponsored by FIFA) and JNSC (funded b the state government) respectively, in Polo.
NEC, would provide for 90 per cent of the installation charges for the floodlights while the state government would bear the remaining 10 per cent. The fund approved is in accordance with the NEC’s scheme for promoting sports in the region.
“The NEC has sanctioned Rs 5 crore to install floodlighting system and the first installment of Rs 1.8 crore will be released soon,” NEC Secretary U K Sangma told reporters here on Thursday.
Sangma, however, blamed the state government for the delay in sanctioning of the project. “The NEC had asked for DPR (Detailed Project Report) from the government as early as 2010 but the same was submitted only in December last which resulted in late sanctioning of the project”, he said.
The NEC had been approving funds for improvement of sports infrastructure in various North Eastern (NE) states and has earmarked an annual budget of Rs 50 lakh for sponsoring national events hosted by NE states.
Besides funds for sports infrastructure, the NEC has a budget of Rs 50 lakh exclusively for conducting inter-NE states football tournament titled, “Dr. T Ao Football Tournament.”
Meanwhile, praising the North Eastern states for faring well in sports despite various constraints, Deputy Chief Minister incharge of Sports and Youth Affairs Bindo M Lanong urged upon the Central government agencies/organisations and corporate bodies to give more attention in terms of funds, logistics and other assistance to promote sporting activities in the region.
“Had landlocked NE received the attention as it has been doing of late, things would have been different,” Lanong said.
Lanong further said that youth from the region should pursue sports seriously as it was a highly paid profession now.
“Sports today has become a profession. Given the amount a sportsperson of the region earns in a season, there are enough reasons for the youths to head out of the jungle and into the playgrounds,” Lanong, who was addressing the seminar, “Development of Sports in North East” at NEC, said.
While stating that NE has shown lots of potentialities in sports, Lanong said many sportspersons from the region are not only acclaimed nationally but internationally as well. However, the talents, he said should not be left unattended “or it will be wasted”.
Naming a few acclaimed footballers, Lanong said Meghalaya has two international footballers besides regional footballers like T Ao, the captain of the Indian national football team in the 60s and Shlur Nongbri, a renowned footballer, all of whom have made the state proud.