The Union government is leaving no stone unturned to make next year's South Asian Games (SAG) a grand success.
With the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) taking personal interest in the organisation of the SAG to be held in the north east region for the first time from February 5 to 16, the sports ministry is making all efforts to encourage all the top athletes in various disciplines to take part in these upcoming Games.
The 12th SAG in Guwahati and Shillong has become a prestige issue not only for the NDA-led government but also for sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is ruling BJP's Assam president.
The government has already decided to project Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate for Assam, where state elections are due next year. This is the reason why Sonowal is taking deep interest in the hosting of SAG.
The first step in that direction is to provide cash awards to medal winners, a first in the history of SAG. To attract the elite Indian athletes, the ministry would offer Rs 3.75 lakh to gold medallist, Rs 2.5 lakh to silver and Rs 1.25 lakh to bronze winners, similar to what Asian Championships medallists receive as cash awards.
The ministry has realised that SAG has lost its place in the priority list of the country's top athletes and National Sports Federations (NSFs). A majority of the athletes generally skip SAG to concentrate on other important national and international fixtures.
In a recent meeting of the ministry officials with the NSF heads, it was informed that elite athletes were not excited about SAG and the sports federations can't guarantee their participation. In fact, All India Football Federation (AIFF) has identified its Under-21 team for the football event while Hockey India (HI) has cited the clash of the Hockey India League (HIL) with the SAG as one of the reasons behind sending a second-string team. The HIL will run from January 18 to February 21.
Till now, the ministry and the NSFs have not been able to work out a solution on how to maximise the participation of athletes, but giving away cash awards to medallists is one step towards that. It has also been learnt that Sonowal would hold a fresh round of discussion with NSF heads to convey to them that only top athletes should participate in the SAG, given the direct interest shown by the PMO.
Another major step that the sports ministry is planning to undertake is to send a delegation of one North-East Member of Parliament and top ministry officials to SAG member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to ensure maximum participation, another first in the history of SAG.
With the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) taking personal interest in the organisation of the SAG to be held in the north east region for the first time from February 5 to 16, the sports ministry is making all efforts to encourage all the top athletes in various disciplines to take part in these upcoming Games.
The 12th SAG in Guwahati and Shillong has become a prestige issue not only for the NDA-led government but also for sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is ruling BJP's Assam president.
The government has already decided to project Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate for Assam, where state elections are due next year. This is the reason why Sonowal is taking deep interest in the hosting of SAG.
The first step in that direction is to provide cash awards to medal winners, a first in the history of SAG. To attract the elite Indian athletes, the ministry would offer Rs 3.75 lakh to gold medallist, Rs 2.5 lakh to silver and Rs 1.25 lakh to bronze winners, similar to what Asian Championships medallists receive as cash awards.
The ministry has realised that SAG has lost its place in the priority list of the country's top athletes and National Sports Federations (NSFs). A majority of the athletes generally skip SAG to concentrate on other important national and international fixtures.
In a recent meeting of the ministry officials with the NSF heads, it was informed that elite athletes were not excited about SAG and the sports federations can't guarantee their participation. In fact, All India Football Federation (AIFF) has identified its Under-21 team for the football event while Hockey India (HI) has cited the clash of the Hockey India League (HIL) with the SAG as one of the reasons behind sending a second-string team. The HIL will run from January 18 to February 21.
Till now, the ministry and the NSFs have not been able to work out a solution on how to maximise the participation of athletes, but giving away cash awards to medallists is one step towards that. It has also been learnt that Sonowal would hold a fresh round of discussion with NSF heads to convey to them that only top athletes should participate in the SAG, given the direct interest shown by the PMO.
Another major step that the sports ministry is planning to undertake is to send a delegation of one North-East Member of Parliament and top ministry officials to SAG member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to ensure maximum participation, another first in the history of SAG.
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