National Games summit held in Meghalaya

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya National Games Outreach Summit was held at the State Convention Centre here on Tuesday, with chief minister Conrad Sangma expressing optimism that the the National Games 2022 would be a "massive transformational event" for the state.

He informed that work for all stadiums will start soon with upgrading the PA Sangma Stadium in Tura and other sports facilities in the state.

"The National Games will not only develop the sports culture in the state but will open up opportunities for trade, entrepreneurship, tourism besides developing urban infrastructures and connectivity," he said.

Sports minister Banteidor Lyngdoh said that the government was "working hard" to ensure that the infrastructure to host the National Games are built in time. "The government is ensuring that the infrastructure built is used and maintained in a sustainable way even after the National Games," he added.

"The summit also tried to structure a comprehensive sports development programme starting from preparation for the National Games 2022 to penning down sports policies, analysis of technical and infrastructural issues and market research studies for a viable community development starting from now to beyond 2022," an official in the sports department said.

Earlier, speaking on various CSR projects, funding and investments for better impacts in sports, the CM said that Meghalaya and northeast in general has always been a region that produced excellent sportspersons. "It is a natural talent in our people and without much support or infrastructure, they have excelled in different sports which reflect their passion and talent," he said.