NE SPORTS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, JULY 8
Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Sports and Youth, Harsh Sanghavi on Friday announced that the state will host the 36th edition of the National Games between September 27 and October 10.
He made this announcement while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Jain Arise Global Organisation (JAGO) Foundation’s “Spirit of Women” Conference in Ahmedabad.
This is for the first time that Gujarat will be hosting this prestigious event, state Principal Secretary for Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department, Ashwani Kumar, said.
Moment of pride to announce that Gujarat is ready to host the prestigious 36th National Games 2022 from 27 Sept. to 10 Oct 2022.
Our state will set a platform for sportspersons to showcase their talent, break records & create new illustrious records.— Harsh Sanghavi (Modi ka Parivar) (@sanghaviharsh) July 8, 2022
“Gujarat is known for setting records and benchmarks, with 36th National Games Gujarat will set yet another record to host the event with the limited time of 3 months with more than 34 sports disciplines in 6 cities of Gujarat,” said Harsh Sanghavi.
“Gujarat will host the 36th National games from September 27 to October 10. I am thankful to the IOA (Indian Olympic Association) for accepting Gujarat’s proposal to organise the event in the state,” Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced in a tweet this morning.
He added that since Gujarat is well-equipped with world-class sports infrastructure, the state administration will leave no stone unturned to make this edition of the National Games the best sporting event so far.
Minister of State for Sports, Harsh Sanghavi, exuded confidence that Gujarat will be successful in hosting the mega event although there are only three months left for it.
He added that various sporting events will be held across six cities – Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.
“More than 7,000 top sportspersons of the country are expected to showcase their might in over 34 disciplines including indoor and outdoor sports such as athletics, hockey, football, volleyball, lawn tennis, table tennis, judo, wrestling, kabaddi and kho-kho,” the minister said in a statement.
The last edition of the National Games was organised in Kerala in 2015. Due to various reasons, including the pandemic, the games are now being organised after a gap of seven years, Sanghavi said.
Aligned with the Olympic movement, Gujarat will enhance and optimally utilize its existing infrastructure to organize these games. This way, the infrastructure created and enhanced will continue to be utilized by the state’s sportspersons on a regular basis.
”Twenty years back, under the leadership of the then Chief Minister and the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, Gujarat embarked on the journey of creating robust infrastructure of national and international standards. As a result of this vision, Gujarat has well equipped sports infrastructure facilities in the 6 cities to be able to host the 36th National Games successfully,” added the minister.
It should also be noted that organizing these National Games reinstates Gujarat administration’s focus on sports under the leadership of CM Bhupendra Patel and Sports Minister Harsh Sanghavi. The state recently concluded the 11th Khel Mahakumbh with a record registration of 55 lakh and also hosted the Conference of Ministers in-charge of Youth Affairs & Sports last month in Ekta Nagar (Kevadia). Secretary General of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Rajeev Mehta expressed his happiness with Gujarat’s readiness to organize the National Games. He mentioned that the infrastructure in the state was assessed in consultation with the Indian Olympic Association and National Sports Federation and the details of the sports were finalized accordingly. He appreciated the proactive approach of the state government to host the glorious National Games Gujarat is excited to showcase the nation the culture the hospitality, with Garba being the major attraction, Gujarat will surely going the steal the show with the good food.
