Wangkhei MLA Th Arunkumar on Thursday stressed the need to streamline the appointment of executives for the sport’s associations of various disciplines to uplift the status of games and sports in Manipur, while pointing out that sports and politics should be kept apart.
The MLA was speaking at the felicitation of sub-junior athletic Laithonjam Lanchenba by the Manipur Swimming Association (MSA) on bagging the Best Swimmer award in the 38th Sub-Junior National Aquatic Championship, 2022. The programme was held at Wangkhei Ningthem Pukhri Mapal in Imphal East.
Arunkumar said the handing over the post of the president or secretary to a politician or executive who is not interested in the respective discipline will be a factor of obstruction in the developmental activities.
“Handing over such posts to those actively involved in the sports will be a plus point,” he added.
He then suggested reviving the swimming facilities in Ningthem Pukhri with inputs from experts to encourage the sports of swimming among the youths. He further assured to provide his best support in reviving the swimming facilities in the pond.
The achievement received by Lanchenba is not an easy task; it was by his dedication, hard work and the support and guidance from his coach and families, he said. He also suggested sending Lanchenba to outside states for better training to increase his performance.
He wished Lanchenba and the other participants of the championship good luck in the future endeavours, and apprised them to maintain good discipline which is the key to success.
Retired civil servant RK Nimai also spoke on the occasion and stressed the need to focus on aquatic and athletics sports for Manipur to get more medals as there are numerous events in such disciplines.
The club culture in the state began to die out after hosting the National Games by the state, he said, pointing out the need to plan and prepare a strategy to uplift the status of games and sports in the state.
He further stated that the sports budget of the state has reduced a lot since the past few decades. He also stressed the need to reduce the fund of civil constructions and increase the funds of game and sports in order to uplift the players of Manipur.
Four other athletes from Manipur, who participated in the championships, were also felicitated during the programme.
The function was also attended by founder of Central Swimming Club and deputy director of YAS T Thouba who is also the president of Manipur Swimming Association among others.
In the 38th Sub-Junior National Aquatic Championship 2022, which was held at Rajkot in Gujarat from June 24 to June 26, as many as four gold medals and one silver medal were bagged by Lanchenba in five different categories of swimming.
