Scindia's Sports Vision: How Northeast Could Become India's Athletic Hub

Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and DoNER Minister Scindia, on Wednesday, co-chaired the third and final virtual meeting of the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on Promotion of sports in the North-Eastern region (NER).

After the meeting, the DoNER Minister in a post on his X handle said that he emphasised the “One Sport, One State” approach, urging all participating states to focus on the development of a comprehensive sports strategy based on their chosen disciplines. “Highlighted the need to focus on high-quality coaching, talent identification and technology-enabled training for our athletes, with infrastructure complementing the effort for a result-oriented roadmap for NER,” he said. Scindia added: “Together, we are laying the foundation for the Northeast to emerge as India’s hub of high-performance sporting excellence”.

A Raj Bhavan official in Imphal said that the meeting reviewed the progress of ongoing initiatives and discussed the development of a coordinated framework to strengthen talent pathways and high-performance systems. Deliberations further covered key components of sports ecosystem development, including scientific coaching methodologies, competition structures, last-mile infrastructure, and the establishment of high-performance centres and academies, he said. States were encouraged to refine their priority disciplines and prepare comprehensive proposals reflecting their comparative strengths, existing ecosystems and long-term potential.

The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to advancing the sports landscape of the Northeast through coordinated planning, evidence-based strategies and close Centre-State collaboration.

Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse; Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Hariranjan Rao; Sports Ministers of Meghalaya and Mizoram; Chief Secretary of Manipur; Ministry of DoNER, and senior officers from the other Northeastern states attended the meeting virtually.

The DoNER ministry had constituted several High-Level Task Forces to identify key interventions and formulate actionable short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies for the integrated development of the North East Economic Corridor. The High-Level Task Forces were constituted following the 72nd plenary session of the North-Eastern Council (NEC) held in November last year in Agartala. Union Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the NEC plenary session.

- IANS