Shillong, Nov 19: The Meghalaya government is working very hard to ensure that infrastructure for the National Games 2022, which the state is to host, is built on time, Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh said here today.
Lyngdoh was speaking on the first day of the Meghalaya National Games Outreach Summit 2019. The two-day summit is being held to discuss the challenges, policies, infrastructure and allied development for the Games.
“Funds for the National Games stadium has been earmarked by the Ministry of Social Justice and we hope that it will be sanctioned soon by the central government,” Lyngdoh said.
He added that the state government wants to ensure that the infrastructure created will be designed so that using and maintaining it after the Games is sustainable. “We want to ensure that the infrastructure we build does not become a white elephant and therefore a lot of planning is going into this,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that the Games will be important not just from a sporting perspective, but to areas like transport, trade, tourism and even agriculture as these other areas will benefit from bringing the mega-national event to Meghalaya.
“Sports will be the centre point, but there will be lots around that and our approach to the Games is a holistic one,” the CM said.
The summit is being organised by the Meghalaya State Olympic Association and Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs and is being held at the State Convention Centre.
(Photo: Facebook/Conrad Sangma)
