The proposed 38th National Games will be organized in the state in the year 2024 at seven places. These include Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Haldwani, Nainital, Rudrapur and Gularbhoj. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given instructions to constitute a high-powered committee to meet the arrangements and requirements related to the organization of sports. This committee will be authorized to take quick decisions related to the event. The Chief Minister has given instructions to include traditional sports of the state in the National Games.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a review meeting regarding the preparations for organizing the National Games at the Secretariat. He said that for better performance in national games, state level games should be organized before this. Players who are playing from other states should be encouraged to play from their state. Publicity should be given to the sports policy prepared in the wider interest of young players in the state.
Special care should be taken that like the successful event of G-20, this event should also be completed successfully. With this, better identity of the state will be created and tourism will also get a boost. Instructing to pay special attention to preparing the atmosphere for this event from now itself, he said that the arrangements for the National Games held in Gujarat and the National Games being held in Goa this year should also be studied. It should be kept in mind that along with the national sports tourism in the state, it should become a medium for the promotion of the state’s culture.
Sports Minister Rekha Arya, Chief Secretary Dr SS Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, Special Principal Secretary Sports Abhinav Kumar and Secretary Chief Minister Vinay Shankar Pandey and other officials were present in the meeting.
National Games may be organized in October or November next year:
An expenditure of Rs 450 crore will be incurred on the 38th National Games to be held in the state. In this, an amount of Rs 91 crore has been made available by the Government of India. Now the remaining amount will be borne by the state government. 38 sports competitions will be organized in the National Games. Apart from the 34 approved sports, yoga, karate, malkhamb and one other competition will be included in this.
Sports Minister Rekha Arya said that next year the National Games are proposed to be organized in October or November. For this, the Sports Department will correspond with the Indian Olympic Association. A presentation was given by the Sports Department in the meeting chaired by the Chief Minister at the Secretariat on Thursday. Giving information regarding the presentation, Sports Minister Rekha Arya said that the construction work related to the infrastructure facilities for the National Games would be completed by December. A trial run will also be done on these before the start of the Games.
Special training camps will be organized for the players of the state to perform better in sports. For this, on the demand of the department, the government has given in-principle approval of Rs 10 crore. National and international level coaches will also be appointed for training the players.
For the organization of sports, the department demanded Rs 40 crore in the current financial year, on which the Chief Minister instructed the Finance Department to provide the budget through contingency fund and supplementary budget. The Sports Minister said that as per the instructions of the Chief Minister, the department has been asked to start work on mission mode for organizing sports.
