GUWAHATI: Archers and athletes from tribal communities in the country will get a platform to showcase their skills at a national sports meet at Tepesia in Sonapur from December 27.
The 21st National Janajati Sports Meet to be held at the sports complex of Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, is being organised by Kalyan Ashram Assam under the aegis of Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA), a voluntary organisation.
The four-day meet, held in the country since 1988, will feature as many as 1200 participants from across the Northeast and country in six athletics disciplines besides an archery competition.
“The objective of the event is to explore, tap, groom and produce sportspersons from tribal communities, who despite having talent do not get a platform owing to various reasons such as lack of access to infrastructure and exposure. As many as 34 state units of ABVKA will be taking part in the event this year,” Biswajit Basumatary, president of the event’s organising committee, told The Shillong Times here on Saturday.
Union minister for railways, Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the sports meet on December 27 in the presence of Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, who is chief patron of the event.
“A team from Meghalaya is also taking part in the two-day event,” he said.
Basumatary said that the larger goal of the event was to promote tribal culture and national unity.
“As many as 10,000 people from the interior tribal areas will be provided transport, particularly trains, to the venue. Apart from showcasing traditional games of Northeast, there will be exhibitions and cultural programmes of the communities from across India,” he said.
The event is being organized with financial help from Kalyan Ashram members and donors with logistics support from the Assam government.