As part of the National Sports Day on 29th August celebration, SAI National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) Guwahati organised a conclave on the theme ‘Sports for Nation Building’ on Saturday in its premise. The conclave was graced by Sports Minister of Assam Nandita Gorlosa, Director of Sports, Government of Assam Ankur Bharali, Vice Chancellor of Assam Science and Technology University Narendra Singh Chaudhary, Executive Director SAI Guwahati Sh. D.K.Mittal, Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Archer Jayanta Talukdar.
The conclave began with tribute to Major Dhyan Chand the legendary Hockey wizard followed by felicitation of all the guests.
In her inaugural speech Smt. Nandita Gorlosa called the Khelo Bharat Niti as a landmark step in recognizing the extraordinary power of sports, not merely as games played on fields but as instrument of change, growth, and unity. Assam, with its rich sporting culture, its talented youth, and its deep-rooted traditions is uniquely positioned to lead the Khelo Bharat Niti.
She highlighted State’s flagship scheme Khel Maharan that in the two editions so far has engaged nearly 12% of Assam/s entire population. It is one of the largest people’s sports initiatives in India encompassing panchayats across the state. The identified sports talents through this programme are being further trained under the guidance of national and international coaches, been selected by noted organisations such as JSW Sports and North-East United FC. She noted that Khel Maharan has also built a strong ecosystem of trained sports volunteers and overall aligns with all pillars of the Khelo Bharat Niti.
D.K.Mittal, Executive Director SAI Guwahati elaborated various schemes of the Government of India towards sports promotion in the past ten years. The three landmark pieces of sports policy and legislation passed in the recently concluded Monsoon Session of the Parliament namely, Khelo Bharat Niti, National Sports Governance Act, and National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill have put holistic welfare of sports towards national development at the centre-stage. Both the Acts will be instrumental in ensuring accountability in the functioning of National Sports Federations (NSFs), transparency, fairness. and just game. Under the Khelo India scheme new sports infrastructure, grass root training centres such as Khelo India Centres, and elite sports academies like State Centre of Excellence in every state capital have come up across the country. SAI schemes such as STC as feeder centres, NCoEs as national-level training centres have produced Olympians like Jayanta Talukdar and Lovlina Borgohain in Assam.
Speaking at the conclave, Ankur Bharali, Director of Sports, Government of Assam attributed the recent U-17 Assam Girls’ win in the Subroto Cup as direct outcome of the Khel Maharan initiative. In the coming years, many new talents from Assam will emerge in national and international platforms through this initiative.
Ace Archer Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Jayanta Talukdar has been training under SAI schemes from the early stage. Addressing the student community and athletes present in the conclave, the player gave five – word mantra for success in sporting life, that is – discipline on and off the field, power enhancement for improving training, skills, hard work and clarity of mind. He acknowledged the increasing investment by all stakeholders – Centre, State, and private bodies towards sports sector in recent times.
Among the speakers in the Conclave was the Vice-Chancellor of Assam State Science and Technology University Narender Singh Chaudhary who also emphasised on role of fitness and health for scientific community.
The conclave began with lighting the lamp and paying rich tribute to Major Dhyan Chand, the Hockey wizard. A booklet on the life of the Hockey Legend was also released by the esteemed guests in the functioning.
