39th National Games
SHILLONG, June 24: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said the lack of sports infrastructure in certain spheres impacted the decision or directive of the Centre and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to give the 39th National Games 2027 a Northeast flavour.
Meghalaya remains the host of the country’s biggest athletic event, he said.
The CM indicated 10% of the decision was based on the state’s inability to invest Rs 400-500 crore in a particular sport, but it was largely due to the intention of the Centre and IOA to involve the other Northeastern states in a small way.
He said this while replying to a query about whether the decision to let other northeastern states host a few disciplines was due to the lack of sporting infrastructure in Meghalaya.
“If this direction or suggestion had not come from the Centre or IOA, we would have to go for investment. We would have to spend Rs 2,500-3,000 crore instead of the Rs 1,900 crore we are spending today. This partly impacted the decision,” he said.
Asserting Meghalaya’s status as the host of the 2027 Games, Sangma said, “During a discussion with the (Union) Home Minister and the IOA, we were told it would be nice if other states could become a part of the games and host one or two disciplines based on their capacity and logistics.”
He added that a majority of the games are being held in Meghalaya. “The Sports Department will be calling the officers from different states and discussing this in detail to conclude. The meeting will be held in July, where the sports officials of all NE states will be asked to come to Shillong, and we will see which state will be able to host which game,” the CM said. This meeting will be followed by the congregation of the sports minister of the northeastern states in Shillong.
He said more than 30 of the 38 disciplines will be held in Meghalaya.
Sangma further said the government is coming up with a unique Games Village model that is in tune with the Tourism department. He said 10-bedroom homestays and boutique hotels will be promoted in the state, especially in Shillong, Tura, and Jowai.
“We will examine other places. We have done a rough analysis of how many rooms, beds are required and based on that, we have calculated how many entrepreneurs would be involved in putting up the homestays. We will support these entrepreneurs to construct homestays based on the IOA criteria,” he said.
“This model is being developed to provide a scope for employment in the future. After the Games are over, these boutique hotels and homestays can cater to tourists,” he said.