Almost 99 percent of the work on the Karnali Province Stadium, the main venue for the competition, has been completed, while the construction of the Chisapani Football Ground, Kalungchowk Rugby Ground, and the cricket ground in the Province Stadium complex in Surkhet itself has also been completed.
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Infrastructure is in preparation in Karnali for the 10th National Sports Competition to be held in Karnali Province.
The 123rd board meeting of the National Sports Council (NSC) held on Wednesday has decided to organize the 10th National Games from Falgun 1 to 7.
Almost 99 percent of the work on the provincial stadium, the main venue for the competition, has been completed, while the construction of the Chisapani football field, Kalungchowk rugby field and the cricket field in the provincial stadium complex in Surkhet has also been completed.
The Ministry of Social Development has stated that general painting and cleaning of the covered halls at the district level will suffice. Social Development Minister Ghanshyam Bhandari said that the players were enthusiastic after the NSC board meeting announced the new date. ‘We are in a state of preparation even though the competition has been scheduled for now,’ he said, ‘The structures including the provincial stadium in the provincial capital are ready, and the structures in the districts will also need general maintenance and cleaning.’
The competition has been scheduled for Falgun 1 after being postponed four times. The then federal government had formed 11 subcommittees to prepare for the competition, and the secretariat of the main organizing committee for the 10th National Games was inaugurated at the provincial stadium in Birendranagar.
According to the ministry, only cleaning work remains at the provincial stadium. Minister for Social Development Bhandari said that 99 percent of the stadium work has been completed with an investment of about Rs 1.59 billion. The Karnali government has prepared to play 24 out of 35 games of the national competition in Karnali. Of these, the provincial government plans to play 16 games, including football, at the provincial stadium, which can accommodate about 10,000 spectators.
Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development Dholak Raj Dhakal said that the provincial government has prepared to play some games at the hockey field in Humla and at the covered halls in Dailekh, Kalikot, Jumla, Rukum West and Salyan. ‘The infrastructure for the national games, including accommodation, health, security and local transport management, are still in preparation,’ he said. ‘We are also in preparation for the accommodation management of around 3,500 players daily in hotels in the provincial capital Birendranagar.’
According to him, the provincial government has also invested about Rs 250 million in road and other infrastructure development works targeting the national games. The federal government had allocated Rs 600 million in the budget of the last fiscal year for the competition.’
Taekwondo coach Bhuwan Thapa said that the decision taken by the NSC board meeting should not be changed now. ‘The players were disappointed when the date was changed repeatedly, and players who were in closed training were also taken out,’ he said. ‘The competition should be held on time now as it is a matter related to the prestige of Karnali.’
Volleyball player Gyanu Chand said that they have resumed practice games for the national competition with the decision of the NSC board meeting. ‘We were already prepared, and the enthusiasm has increased again,’ he said, ‘sports activities have started to continue in rural areas again.’ He says that the provincial government needs to intensify the preparations to be made by the host province again.
Although other structures are in preparation, the Karnali Provincial Sports Development Council is currently without a leader.
The formation of the council has been delayed due to the disagreement between the ruling party UML and the Nepali Congress over the issue of division of labour in Karnali. The council had been without office bearers since Poush 6 last year.
The Ministry of Social Development appointed Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) treasurer Padam Bahadur Khadka and former Karnali Provincial Football Association secretary Ganesh Kumar Karki as expert members on Jestha 14 for the appointment of member-secretaries of the Provincial Sports Development Council.
However, a member said that the committee formed under the leadership of the ministry secretary has become ineffective due to the disagreement over division of labour. The council is currently run by ex-officio officers, while Ram Prasad Upadhyay, a senior education officer at the Ministry of Social Development, has been given the responsibility of day-to-day operations.
