National Sports Council (NSC) Member-Secretary Tankalal Ghising has bid farewell to the council after completing his four-year term on Friday. Ghising, who was appointed to the post of Member-Secretary, which is a 'hot seat' of sports, on Mangsir 13, 2078 BS, has bid farewell to the council after completing his full term.

Along with him, NSC board members Anjan Dhamala, Bina Shrestha, Dipendra Bista, Janak Bartaula, Mohammad Fazil and Prakash Kumar Kusari were also bid farewell. During the farewell on Friday, the member secretary distributed kits to the players and coaches preparing for the national team in Mission-2026.

National Team Preparation Director Deepak Bista interpreted Member Secretary Ghising's tenure as a 'golden era'. He said, 'It is not something to be written about history, but something to be written by doing. The achievements that have been achieved in sports under his leadership are historic and glorious. His tenure is a golden era for Nepali sports.'

As Bista said, Nepali sports have achieved historic successes during Ghising's tenure. Sports like karate, kabaddi, kho kho, wushu, taekwondo, cricket, volleyball have achieved historic achievements. Nepal won its first medal in the Olympic framework. Para Taekwondo's Palesha Govardhan won bronze at the Paris Paralympics 2024.

The silver and team bronze medals won at the Asian Games were equally important. At the Hangzhou Asian Games, karate's Erika Gurung won silver and the women's team bronze in kabaddi. Erika's medal was Nepal's first individual silver in the Asian Games after 25 years, while the kabaddi medal was Nepal's first team medal in the Asian Games. The Hangzhou Para Asian Games medal is also another achievement Nepal has achieved during his tenure.

Ghising, who was appointed to revive sports that had been weakened by the Corona pandemic, had started his journey with the preparations for the 19th Asian Games. Which made his tenure a proud one. When the Asian Games, which was supposed to be held in China in 2022, were delayed by a year, Nepal had more time to prepare. In the meantime, he organized the ninth National Games and laid the foundation for the Asian Games by revitalizing Nepali sports.

Former NSC member-secretary Yubaraj Lama has praised Ghising for successfully completing his term amid continuous political pressure, controversies and challenges. Explaining the achievements of winning the medals, Lama said, ‘These achievements will remain as a remarkable and inspiring chapter under the leadership of Member Secretary Ghising. The mark of change, achievement and improvement he left in the Nepali sports administration will be remembered for a long time.’

As Lama mentioned, Ghising brought the long-stalled employee promotion process in NSC to a conclusion, which has had a long-term impact on the morale of the employees. During the farewell, NSC Employees Association President Saraswati KC said, ‘For years, we sports employees had to suffer from not getting promotions. Promotion had become the root of the problem. But due to his leadership ability, this problem was resolved. This has increased the morale of the general employees.’

Ghising also drastically reduced the number of Bagrelti National Sports Associations registered with the council. He reduced the number of registered associations from around 209 to 63. He brought many similar associations under one roof, cancelled the registration of inactive associations, and brought national associations within the legal scope of periodic elections.

Ghising's efforts to create an environment for continuous training for players were commendable. Deepak Shrestha, President of the Players Association, reminded that training is the foundation of success for players and said that the positive efforts made by Member Secretary Ghising in the interests of players cannot be forgotten. Shrestha's analysis was that there was no doubt that ordinary players would take Ghising's name as a successful Member Secretary after Sharad Chandra Shah in Nepali sports.

President Shrestha said, 'We had seen state-of-the-art training centers when we went abroad. We used to imagine, when will we get to train in such facilities in Nepal? But now we have got that opportunity. We have also entered the training of the scientific era. We are confident that it will give positive results.' 

The National Hyperperformance Center established during the tenure of Member-Secretary Ghising is another important step in the development of Nepali sports. Based on sports science, he also prioritized anthropometric research to identify players from the grassroots, and made policy reforms by creating the procedure for player honors and awards. In order to support player production, he has continuously organized the President's Running Shield and initiated competitions such as Junior National Games (school level), University Games. He has paved the way for that in collaboration with the private sector.

With the success achieved in the 19th Asian Games, Ghising had started 'Mission 2026' for the next Asian Games. This is Nepal's goal to win two medals, including gold, in the Asian Games to be held in Japan next year. Nepal has not been able to win gold in the Asian Games so far. National Team Preparation Director Bista reminded that all players and coaches are working hard to fulfill the goals and dreams that the Member Secretary has set in Mission 2026.

Despite bringing a positive dimension to sports, Ghising also caused some controversies during his tenure. The 10th National Games could not be held due to the ‘tuning’ failure of the outgoing KP Sharma Oli-led government and Sports Minister Tejulal Chaudhary, and Ghising could not resolve the disputes that arose in the Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) even under the leadership of Sharishad. In his farewell speech, former Secretary General of the NOC, Nilendra Raj Shrestha, said, ‘We wanted the NOC dispute to be resolved during his time. He tried to do so while sitting on the hot seat of sports, but it seems that it was not possible because the higher authorities did not want it. I would like to wish him all the best in reaching the policy-making level in the future and resolving the issue.’