In a bid to expedite preparation for National Games -2018, Chief Minister Harish Rawat exhorted all concerned to complete things well before the deadline while addressing the first governing body meeting of National Sports Organising Committee here in Dehradun on Wednesday evening. The CM asked the officials to first ascertain and fix the venues of different categories of the games.
He asked for a constitution of a society for smooth management of NG. "Advisory body, executive committee and secretariat should be set up promptly to speed things up. The volume of funds required to hold the event should be estimated fast so that we can send it to the Centre for clearance on time," he said.
The CM has instructed the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee led by Additional Chief Secretary. He also advised them to keep in mind the State's cultural heritage and natural beauty while finalising the logo for the National Games.
The CM also advised them to establish better coordination with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and also stress on how to expand sports infrastructure facilities in the State. "Places must be identified where the required infrastructure is available and where things must be upgraded to ensure smooth conduct of the games. This is an opportunity to project the State on national and international arena and we should avail it fully. National level players might emerge from the State in course of the games. We must stress on honing sports talents in the villages," CM said.
He asked the officials to develop six districts -- Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Tehri, Nainital and Pithorgarh -- as the main centres of the game and assured them that fund would not come in the way. "Private contribution may also be sought for," he said.
Secretary Shailesh Bagoli said that to orgnanise National Games-2018, they have constituted a national sports organising committee. "In this process, we have been convening the first meeting here in Dehradun. In this games we have finalised 39 sports stream and will organise games in four places -- Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri and Nainital. We are planning to develop Khel Gaon (sports village) in Dehradun and Haldwani," he said.
During the meeting, Cabinet Ministers Indira Hridayesh, Dr Harak Singh Rawat, Dinesh Aggrawal, MlA Shila Rani Rawat, Chief Secretary N Ravishankar, Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma, Principal Secretary to CM Omprakash, Umakant Panwar and general secretary of Indian Olympic Association Rajiv Mehta were present.