By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 22: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has asked the state government to convene a meeting of the National Games Secretariat (NGA) with all the stakeholders to finalise the dates for hosting the National Games in 2022.
In a letter addressed to the NGA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on March 16, IOA president Narinder Dhruv Batra and secretary general Rajiv Mehta appreciated that the government was proactively working towards staging the National Games.
“… It is advised to put this big initiative in the motion by convening a meeting of the NGA with all stakeholders to decide on the dates for National Games and inform us accordingly,” the duo said in the letter.
The members of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA) on Wednesday met Sports and Youth Affairs Minister and ex-officio president of MSOA, Banteidor Lyngdoh to discuss the IOA letter.
When contacted, MSOA working president John F. Kharshiing said the Sports Minister will be convening a meeting in the first week of April to discuss the team preparations and also to reply to the IOA letter.
Kharshiing said the state government had written to the IOA in November last year to confirm if Meghalaya will get to host the National Games.
According to him, the main concern of the MSOA is team preparation.
“We have only around 18 months to prepare if the National Games is held in November 2022. We have very limited time to prepare the team for the National Games,” Kharshiing said.
Asked if the National Games would be hosted since the infrastructure is yet to be ready, he said the state government had earlier stated that they will be ready with the infrastructure within 12 months.
“The timeline is extremely tight. We will have to work together to see that Meghalaya is able to host the National Games next year,” the MSOA president added.
Earlier, during the Assembly budget session, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said the possibility of Meghalaya holding the National Games in 2022 seemed very bleak, but sports infrastructure development works were under way.
“The way things are looking, the chances are very bleak. We have Goa, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh ahead of us. If the IOA follows the same trend then we will get to host the National Games only after eight years,” Sangma had said.
The Chief Minister also said that hosting the National Games is of great importance for the government.
“Sadly, this is not in our hands. The IOA will decide whether we can host it or not,” he said.