The Goa government has asked the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) to provide a "lead time" of minimum five to six months to host the National Games, which were postponed earlier, the Legislative Assembly was told on Wednesday.
Sports Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar told the House the government had rescheduled the National Games, which were supposed to be held in March-April, due to the Lok Sabha elections and state assembly bypolls.
A lead time is the latency between the initiation and execution of a process
"The 36th National Games were awarded to be hosted in Goa in 2011 but since the editions of all the previous Games were delayed, the coastal state could not host it," the minister said while responding to a query tabled by Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco.
"When the new state government took over in 2017, it, in consultation with the IOA, had decided to host the Games in March-April 2019," the minister said.
However, in view of the approaching Lok Sabha elections and state assembly bypolls, the government in January requested the IOA to postpone hosting of the Games to November, he said.
"The IOA reverted on Government of Goa's proposal only on July 22, 2019, and with just 100 days left for the preparations, the state government has requested the IOA to accordingly relook at the dates announced and to provide a minimum of 5-6 months lead time for Games and state team's preparations," it stated.
Responding to another query, Ajgaonkar said the state government has received Rs 97.80 crore (Rs 12 crores in 2009-10, Rs 35 crore in 2010-11, Rs 35 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 15.80 crore in 2013-14) from the Central government towards infrastructure development for the National Games.
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