Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh while attending the Felicitation Ceremony of the medal winners and participants of the 36th National Games-2022, Gujarat, and 2nd North East Olympic Games-2022, Shillong held at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal on Tuesday, has announced to increase the incentives awarded to medal winners of Commonwealth Games (CWG) and National Games.
The Chief Minister informed that the incentives awarded to gold medallists of CWG will be increased from Rs.15 lakhs to Rs. 20 lakhs, silver medallists from Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs. 15 lakhs, and that participants will be provided Rs. 4 lakhs.
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Regarding the National Games, he announced that incentives for individual players winning gold medals will be increased from Rs. 3 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs, for silver medallists from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 3 lakhs, and for bronze medallists from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakhs. For the team, the incentives for gold, silver, and bronze medals will be increased to Rs. 15 lakhs, Rs. 10 lakhs, and Rs. 5 lakhs respectively, he added. Acknowledging the efforts of coaches for the achievements of players, N. Biren also announced to increase in incentives for coaches from Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 7 lakhs for gold, from Rs. 3 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs for silver and bronze from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 3 lakhs.
During the program, the CM felicitated medal winners and participants of the 36th National Games-2022, Gujarat, and the 2nd North East Olympic Games-2022, Shillong. Cash rewards of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 7,000, and Rs. 5000 were given to gold, silver, and bronze medal winners of the 36th National Games 2022, Gujarat. Further, a cash reward of Rs. 10,000 was given to the Associations of 18 disciplines that participated in the 2nd North East Olympic Games 2022, Shillong.
The Chief Minister assured that the Government will take up necessary actions in consultation with the Youth and Affairs Ministers for implementation of the same at the earliest.
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He maintained that the objective of the State Government is to create avenues for the people and support them. Stating that achievement-oriented thinking is very important for carrying out a task, he mentioned that the Government is putting in every effort to develop infrastructures of various sectors including games and sports.
N. Biren also stated the Government has initiated the process of increasing the sitting capacity of the gallery of Khuman Lampak Main Stadium to around 70,000. He deliberated on the plan to construct a Stadium with a crowd capacity of 1 lakh and mentioned the identification of land measuring 50 acres at Imphal West District for the same.
He further informed that the Manipur Olympian Park which is being developed at Sangaithel would be inaugurated soon and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had been invited to inaugurate it. He spoke on the Chief Minister’s Akhannaba Sanaroisingi Tengbang (CMAST) scheme launched for the welfare of the State’s sportsperson.
The Chief Minister urged young athletes of the State not just to aim for getting a Government Job after winning medals in National events, but rather aim for the Olympic Games. He added that the Government would also discuss matters relating to providing jobs to gold medal-winning players at the National level.
Youth Affairs and Sports (YAS) Minister Govindas Konthoujam, while addressing the gathering, stated that games and sports are the fields that have made Manipur known to the world and added that the people of the State is privileged to have N. Biren Singh as Chief Minister has always taken up many initiatives to develop the sports sector in the State. He continued that the State Government had initiated work to upgrade the Khuman Lampak Complex to a world-class standard.
The Minister further mentioned that the Government has been putting efforts to develop sports infrastructure so that the State’s players can avail the same facilities as players of other big states do. He stressed the need for cooperation amongst different associations related to games and sports in increasing the number of medals at national and international events. He also spoke on the importance of selecting the right and prospective players for participating in national and international level games. He extended his best wishes to sports players of the State in their future endeavours.
President of Manipur Olympic Association and MLA of Heirok AC Thokchom Radheshyam stressed the need for sportspersons to be passionate to win medals and added the importance of collaboration and not competition amongst different associations to achieve progress in the field of games and sports. He lauded the achievement of young and talented athletes of the State who are trained in fewer infrastructure facilities. He also spoke on the need to support our local players as we support famous footballers during the recent FIFA Football World Cup, to motivate them to bring more laurels for the State.
The felicitation ceremony which was organized by the Manipur Olympic Association was also attended by MLA of Keishamthong AC and President, of Manipur Basketball Association Nishikant Sapam, MLA of Wangkhei AC and President, of All Manipur Mukna Association Th. Arunkumar, MLA of Moirang AC Thongam Shanti, MLA of Kakching AC Mayanglambam Rameshwar, Principal Secretary (YAS) S.S. Chhabra, Olympians, coaches, renowned sports players and Office bearers of Manipur Olympic Association among others.