Prospects of youth & sports discussed
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 22 2011: A day-long discussion on 'The future prospect of youth and sports movement in Manipur' was held at Manipur Press Club today.

Organised by Sports Movement Committee, Manipur in collaboration with Sports Lovers of Manipur, the discussion was moderated by RK Ranendrajit.

In his observance, RK Ranendrajit said that sports is a part of education and through education, we mould the character of the youth as well as taught them how to reach their goals.

Today, many Manipuri sportsmen and women are playing at the National and International level bringing laurels to the State and the country.

When our players win medals for the State, we should not just clap hands for them but think what we can do for them.

We should took out agitation to ensure that the sportspersons get the required facilities and equipments, he exhorted.

He went on to say that NGOs, civil societies and parents should know their duties towards the society and help the youth in building up their character and character.

Only through sports, we can make their career as well as character and help them to reach their goals, he added.

On the need for Government initiatives in this regard, RK Ranendrajit suggested that the Government should upgrade Youth Affairs and Sports Department into a major department.

He pointed out that the Government of India may have sanctioned adequate financial assistance for the development of National Sports Academy.

But no development has been seen till date.

Students are not getting proper infrastructure and other required equipments at the Academy.

Moreover, in the absence of a State Sports Council, we have not been able to get any facilities from the Central Government.

So, we need to propose to the Government to set up State Sports Council at the earliest, he remarked.

Retired YAS Officer Sharatchandra, who participated in the discussion, noted that the Youth Affairs and Sports Department has been organising personal development programme and integration camp every year to help in developing the personality of the sportspersons and give them indept knowledge on the culture and tradition of the State as well as to bring about unity among them.

However, employees working in the YAS Departments for around 30 years are not getting promotion and the Government does not pay necessary attention to such matters.

So, many employees have retired without getting promotion and this makes the employees frustrated, he said.

There are also around 15 posts laying vacant for the last many years in the Sports Department.

But the Government has never looked into the matter.

If it happened to be the matter of other Depts, the Govt would rush and resolve the matter at once, he lamented.

Pointing out that out of around 27 lakh population in the State, youth constitute around 9 lakhs and from among this 9 lakhs youth , around 4 lakhs of them have taken the wrong path, Sharatchandra observed that to solve this problem, we need to make the youth join the sports movement before they become frustrated with life.

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