Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 3 (EMN): Advisor for Youth Resources and Sports (YRS) Zale Neikha has likened the present setup of the department to a ‘bamboo tree: having only roots and no branches’, and underscored the need to streamline it in a ‘proper functional manner’.
“The government setup should be like a pyramid,” the legislator stated. He was addressing the officers of the department from all the districts on Thursday during an introductory programme at the YRS directorate premises in Kohima.
Stating that the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) has come to power with the people’s mandate on the promise of change, Neikha urged upon the executives and officers of the department to emphasise on ‘action plan rather than paper plan’ to bring development and change in the state. Towards this, he laid stress on working on the ethical principles of regularity, punctuality, responsibility and accountability.
“Let’s not just sit back and relax on our executive chairs. It is time we change our attitude of red-tapeism and delay; motivate ourselves to shoulder the responsibilities and bring about a revolution in the department and in the field of sports as well,” the legislator stated.
Neikha also pointed out that Nagas were athletic by nature and their love of sports has inclined them to competently grasp multiple disciplines rather than specialise in one. “The efforts we put to and the promotional endeavours we execute will be unproductive if this ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ persists,” he asserted. Therefore, to encourage professionalism, he said the department will encourage youth, particularly the upcoming sportspersons to pursue their career by way of mastering a particular discipline best suited for him/her.
The legislator informed that the Union Minister RS Rathore and secretaries of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports have, during his recent meetings with them in Delhi, assured to take up projects on sports infrastructure to promote games and sports, and programmes on youth activities.
About the 100th birth anniversary of the legendary footballer Dr. T Ao, he said the state government was spearheading a series of events with the inaugural already kicked off by the department from Raj Bhavan earlier this year. The details of the celebration programme will be fixed after the first sitting of the state level committee, he informed.
Neikha complemented the recent assurance given by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to help and promote the differently-able in the field of sports while supporting the interest of the youth through sports, by making a commitment to work and uplift sports to boost the morale of sportspersons and lay special emphasis for the differently-able by initiating ‘suitable’ activities and tournaments.
Officers from different divisions of the department highlighted their respective divisional activities and presented their grievances to the legislator. It was during this session that the engineering wing brought to light the problem it was facing with regard to the upcoming major project – Dr. T Ao Regional Football Academy in Dimapur, due to shortage of technical manpower. It was learnt that the division has only seven technical staff. The division requested that at least three more junior engineer (JE) posts be created.
The National Cadet Corps (NCC) wing also registered the disheartening lack of basic necessities for the NCC Nagaland. The divisional head pointed out that ‘very little or no protocol’ was followed as far as the NCC and the directorate was concerned despite the ‘weightage’ they were given in the rest of the country.
The NCC Nagaland, which covers about 9613 volunteer from120 schools and 20 colleges in five units throughout the state, is said to be lacking in infrastructure, proper offices, support and encouragement. It was informed that state cadets have won various national accolades in the past few years which spoke of the level of potential Naga youth have, the official stated. He said there were too many grievances to be registered and sough a separate sitting with the legislator.
The director of YRS Imtirenla Jamir cited Neikha’s previous involvement in student bodies and sports organisations and expressed optimism that the department under his know-how would progress in a positive way.
