TURA, Meghalaya, Jan 15 (The CONNECT) – President Droupadi Murmu today inaugurated the 5th Edition of the Meghalaya Games here stating that the North East region has a tremendous potential for development of sports and sportspersons. She noted that this region traditionally has a strong sports culture.
The President said that diversity is the beauty of our nation and we should utilise it to further boost India’s global image in the sports arena. She emphasized the need to support the talent from the tribal areas and groom them to become professional sportspersons.
Murmu was happy to note that the society of North East encourages women to play and join sports as a profession. She said that the North East region has produced many great women athletes. She also underlined the potential of adventure sports and adventure tourism in this region and the need to explore and leverage it on priority.
She said that India’s sporting culture has developed immensely in recent years. With Government’s new initiatives and encouragement to the athletes, Indian sportspersons are now winning more medals than ever in global events. Programmes such as Khelo India are helping in identifying and nurturing future sports champions. She said that India has also demonstrated its ability to host large scale international sporting and other events.
The President urged children and youth to learn at least one sport and participate in sports activities. She said that they may or may not adopt sports as a career but playing together will inculcate team spirit and competitiveness in their personality apart from keeping them physically and mentally fit.
The President said that the decision of the government to hold these games in different parts of the state is a welcome step and would ensure wider reach of such events among masses. She expressed confidence that the events like Meghalaya Games will encourage athletes for excellence, promote competitiveness and create a vibrant sporting ecosystem.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the games are not just an event but investment in the most important asset of the state of Meghalaya- the youth of Meghalaya. The returns on this investment will be there for the generations to come. Creating opportunities for them to excel in sports and other fields of human achievement is the single most priority of our government, he said.
“We are in the process of building new sports infrastructures at every level. We have ensured that the youth channelise their potential in the right direction,” Sangma said.
Meghalaya Games, reinstated in 2021-22 after a hiatus of 16 years, are a testament to the government’s commitment to promoting competitive excellence in the state’s sporting ecosystem. A prime focus of the Meghalaya Games is to not only revive but also highlight the traditional sports of the state. Thereby, participants across all the districts of Meghalaya will take part in the three traditional games, namely Mawpoin (A Khasi traditional game, where two teams try to raise a pyramid of stones and get all the opposing team members ‘out’), Rah Mukhrah (A Jaintia traditional Game where the competitors carry a raw heavy rounded rock to the finishing line achieving the title of ‘KI MAR’) and Wa’pong Sika (A Garo traditional game, where two teams compete to push a bamboo pole towards the opponent’s goal post.).
The 5th Edition of the Meghalaya Games, to be held till January 20, 2024 promises to be the largest gathering of athletes yet, with over 3000 participants competing across 22 sporting disciplines. This includes two demonstration sports, Sport Climbing, and Softball. The organisation of the inaugural ceremony of the PA Sangma Stadium also symbolizes the pace of development in the state, with this engineering marvel being completed at such a less time.
