Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has lashed out at the Central Government for lack of foresight and indifference towards the North East region which ultimately resulted in a sense of alienation among the youth. He was speaking on the occasion of North East Sports Festival inaugural function at Dasarath Dev Stadium. The Chief Minister said, “The region has been neglected on all fronts, whether it is exploitation of natural and mineral resources or the development of human resources.” The apathy is more glaring in the sports arena, he felt.

“Even after 54 years of independence, India’s performance in the sports arena continues to be dismal. In any international sports event, smaller nations are excelling while India, in spite of having abundant potential, has been performing miserably. ” He observed that in the disciplines where India was good earlier, its performance had gone down in the last few years.  He said one of the most important reasons for the abysmal performance is the lack of a scientific and comprehensive sports policy. In this regard the Central Government has been not serious and pragmatic.

Tripura Chief Minister said the North-Eastern part of India which has no dearth of sporting aptitude has been a victim of Central Government’s indifference. “If the Central Government is serious and sincere enough, they should formulate a visionary sports policy which envisages a pro-active role for the Central Government in terms of promotion of sports and identification of talent quite early in the childhood.” “In this endeavour, North East will not lag behind and contribute in a positive manner by providing sports talent in different disciplines,” the Chief Minister asserted. Due to faulty and unscientific planning, the country is facing multi-farious problems and in particular, the future of the young generation has become uncertain. This has generated frustration among the youth leading to a steady erosion of the sense of patriotism. “Taking advantage of this, the forces inimical to the country are inciting fissiparous and secessionist tendencies. This needs to be countered,” said the Chief Minister.
         
| Tripura | North East Enquirer (Headlines) | Nena Home Page |