Meghalaya will host the National Games 2022, asserted Chief Minister Conrad Sangma amid anxiety that the state may not be able to host the coveted event.
There was anxiety regarding the hosting of the mega event as the state lacks in proper sports infrastructure for hosting an event of such magnitude.
With only two years remaining for the state to prepare and build the required sports infrastructure, there have been talks of uncertainty that Meghalaya may not be able to host the prestigious sporting events in 2022.
“We need to be prepared and we are going ahead with the preparations for 2022,” Sangma said.
“As a state and government, we are ready for the 2022 games, and we are hopeful of hosting it, based on the terms and conditions,” Conrad told reporters on Friday.
He was interacting with the press after the meeting of the National Games Organising Committee.
The main objective of the meeting was to take some important decisions regarding the national games and to overall inform the committee about the different steps taken for the preparations of the games.
Locations were finalised in terms of the actual infrastructure to be created, location for conducting various disciplines and different aspects of the locations for the training.
“We discussed other issues related to power, water supply, road connectivity, among others,” he said.
“We also discussed institutions and organizations having sports infrastructure and how we can utilise for conducting the events and as a location for practice,” he added.
The committee was also briefed about different steps taken by the state government to create the infrastructure close to Rs 450 crore mobilised by the state government from different union ministries to give funds for different infrastructure.
Conrad said that the committee has also given timelines for the construction work that will come up and allotment of tender and time for starting the work and time to complete.
“We also discussed the preparedness of players in different disciplines who will participate in the upcoming national games,” the CM said.
“The different organisations and associations requested that more support should be given to them so that they can focus more on the training,” he added.
“We are ready and convinced that we are on track for the 2022 national games,” Sangma asserted.