Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the Assam government will provide jobs to all medal winners of the state at the National Games 2022. The nature of jobs will be decided according to their educational qualification, he said. The Chief Minister made the announcement while attending the official kit launch and sending off programme of the Assam contingent to 36 th National Games 2022 to be held at Gujarat in the presence of Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal who is also the Chairman of Assam Olympic Association at Nehru Stadium in Guwahati today. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that National Games is important because it is associated not only with individual achievement but most importantly with pride and prestige of the state. While drawing a comparison of performance of the state in last three National Games, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma urged the players to exert their best without any performance pressure so that the state can shine at the event. He also urged them to target for ensuring the state’s position among top five states of the country. Dr. Sarma also made an appeal to the state players not to use banned substance and be very cautious while taking drugs for any illness. He also urged them to maintain discipline, good behaviour and sportsmanship spirit during the course of the game. Further saying that the state government is working to take the state on the path of excellence in sports, Dr. Sarma informed about various steps taken for upgradation of sports infrastructure in the state. He said that a new stadium will be built at Chandrapur in Guwahati and infrastructure of Nehru stadium will be upgraded. For this purpose, process is already underway for acquisition the land of Hotel Landmark so that more land is available for the stadium. Apart from setting up two High Performance Centres at Jorhat and Guwahati, Dr. Sarma said that steps for strengthening infrastructure of Jorhat stadium has also been initiated. He also informed that the State Sports Policy will be amended to provide best opportunity to the sportspersons. The Chief Minister said that as per request of Assam Olympic Association, steps are taken for the state players to travel by air for the first time to participate in the National Games. He also congratulated the players and extended them his best wishes. He also thanked singer Zubin Garg for rendering his voice in the goodwill song. While General Secretary of Assam Olympic Association Lakhya Konwar delivered the welcome speech, the programme was also addressed by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal and Additional Chief Secretary (Sports) Maninder Singh. The vote of thanks was offered by Director of Sports Nibedan Das Patowary. Several senior sports persons, officials of Assam Olympic Association and Department of Sports were present in the programme.
