From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: A high level team from the ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs will soon visit Shillong to consider the Meghalaya’s demand for setting up a Special Area Games Regional Centre since the hill state excels in many unique sports on a high altitude, Sports and Youth Affairs minister Zenith Sangma said.
It will be beneficial to the sports faculty if the Shillong SAG centre is upgraded to a regional centre that can cater to the needs of both Meghalaya and neighbouring Mizoram, the minister said while addressing a two-day conference of state ministers for sports and youth affairs here, which ended on Saturday.
Special Area Games aims at scouting and training young talent for the modern competitive sports for inaccessible tribal and rural areas of the country.
The scheme also envisages tapping of talent from the indigenous games and martial arts and also from the regions, which are either genetically or geographically advantageous for the excellence in a particular sports discipline Sangma said.
Sangma also lamented that hockey, India’s national game, which is very popular in the North East is omitted from the list of sports disciplines proposed for the Sport Authority Area Centre in Shillong even though the state capital is considered to be one of the Centres of Excellence. Moreover, the laying of astroturf is almost complete and this can be utilised for high altitude games, he added.
Inaugurating the conference, the Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Jitendra Singh, said that supporting and promoting youth development must be one of the foremost priorities across all sectors and stakeholders in the country.
Sports is one of the best ways for engaging the youth as it builds character, promotes discipline and leads to healthier lifestyles, he said.
At this point Sangma said that, in Meghalaya, the allocation by the state government has been increased to Rs 78 crore this year from Rs 22 crore a year ago. The state has also declared 2012-13 as the Year of the Youth, he pointed out.
The minister said that the funds for sports should be released directly to the special purpose vehicles as done in the case of health missions. He also reiterated the proposal for keeping Rs 50 crore exclusively for sports per annum from the Non-Lapsable Central Poll Resources.
The Centre also agreed to Meghalaya’s demand to fill up vacancies among District Youth Coordinators and such other posts in Sports and Youth Affairs.
The state is willing to recommend suitable and qualified candidates for such posts.
Concluding the conference, the Union minister said his vision is for India to be among the top 10 sporting nations in the world by 2020 and among the top five by 2024.
The Minister said that he dreams of an India in which sport is a way of life and where sport will be a lucrative career option.