The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, on Wednesday urged the sports fraternity to work hand-in-hand with the State Government for the successful conduct of the National Games.
Making his remarks at a meeting of the reconstituted National Games Organising Committee here, the Chief Minister said due diligence should be accorded to the preparations as it was not the prestige of the Government alone which was at stake but also that of the State.
“We expect to confirm the dates of the Games soon. And once this is done, we will be left with little time to host the Games smoothly. So it is essential that all stake-holders work in tandem to conduct the games most successfully,” he said.
Critical areas
The Sports Minister, K.B. Ganesh Kumar, who outlined the work undertaken so far by the National Games Secretariat, said there were a few critical areas which needed special attention. This with regard to the construction of the proposed indoor stadium in Kannur, the lawn bowls court in Kochi, the hockey stadium in Kollam and the shooting range and squash court in Thiruvananthapuram.
“However, steps would be taken to go beyond the established norms and complete all construction works prior to September next year as the Government was once focused on holding the Games either in December 2013 or January 2014,” he said.
The Minister said though the Union Government had initially promised 50 per cent of the total budget of the Games, it has now made it clear that it would be able only to part with a sum of only Rs. 122 crore. The total cost to conduct the Games has now been estimated at Rs. 631 crore and the rest of the amount, discounting Central assistance, would be met by the State Government.
Ganesh Kumar also stressed on the need to put up a united effort for hosting a successful Games. “We should work as a team forgetting all differences,” he said.
The meeting approved the constitution of 20 sub-committees under the NGOC and a district-level organising committee in all seven districts which are to host the Games.
Chairmen of the various committees:Finance: K.M. Mani (Finance Minister), Games Village: P.K. Kunhalikutty (Industries Minister), Sponsorship: Aryadan Mohammed (Electricity Minister), Security: Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan (Home Minister), Green Protocol: P.J. Joseph (Water Resources Minister), Volunteer: P.K. Abdu Rabb (Education Minister), Media: K.C. Joseph (Planning Minister); Accommodation: A.P. Anil Kumar (Tourism Minister), Marketing: M. Ali (Urban Affairs Minister), Infrastructure: V.K. Ibrahim Kunju (Public Works Minister), Food: Anoop Jacob (Food Minister), Cultural: P.K. Jayalakshmi (ST Development Minister), Reception: K. Chandrika (Thiruvananthapuram Mayor), Communications: A. Sampath, MP, Transport: Palode Ravi, MLA, Medical: V. Sivankutty, MLA, Accreditation: K. Muraleedharan, MLA, Souvenir: V. D. Satheessan, MLA, Ceremonies: S. Priyadarsan (Chairman, Kerala Chalachtira Academy), Technical: R. Narayanan (Former DG, Sports Authority of India).
The following will head the local-level organising committee in the host districts: Thiruvananthapuram: V.S. Sivakumar (Health Minister), Kollam: Shibu Baby John (Labour Minister), Alappuzha: Adoor Prakash (Revenue Minister), Ernakulam: K. Babu (Excise Minister), Thrissur: C.N. Balakrishnan (Cooperation Minister), Kozhikode: M.K. Muneer (Panchayat Minister), Kannur: K.P. Mohanan (Agriculture Minister). The District Collectors will be convenors of the committee in the districts concerned.
