Kathmandu, April 6

Minister for Youth and Sports Jagat Bahadur Sunar said the 13th South Asian Games was the most important job of his tenure and the country had no option to host the regional sporting extravaganza on time.

“I am already suffering from sleepless nights as 13th SA Games in directly connected to the pride of the country and we have to host that at any cost,” said Sunar at a press meet organised by the ministry to announce top priorities of the government to be completed within 100 days. “Infrastructure is the main challenge and we need to speed up our preparation works as we have less than a year time to host the Games,” said the minister.

The South Asian Olympic Council has decided to host the Games from March 9-18 in Kathmandu with inclusion of 25 sports disciplines.

The ministry has set 37 priorities including the end of cricket controversies and Mulpani grounds along with developing Pokhara, Tulsipur and Itahari as sports cities apart from constructing international-standard stadium in Kathmandu and provincial stadiums in all seven provinces of the country. “We are not doing all these to get cheap popularity. We are serious about our responsibilities and we are committed towards completing all the jobs,” he said.

The minister has claimed the controversies in Cricket Association of Nepal would end by the given deadline. “We are in touch with International Cricket Council and are hoping that the general assembly of the CAN later this month will end all disputes in the association,” said Minister Sunar.

Secretary Mahesh Prasad Dahal said the priorities were not new ones. “Some of them have already started and some are in pipeline. With the given budget, the ministry has put them in the list of priority and we are committed to complete all of them by May 28,” said Dahal, who urged the concerned departments of speeding up work. “We are slow when it comes to execution of plans and we need to change that.”

The list, presented by Joint Secretary Ram Thapaliya, also includes the preparation of 12-year master plan, opening of sports hospital and sports university, formulation of sports act and regulations among others. The list also includes plans and programmes for youth and scout.

National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista informed a total of 186 national sports associations were in existence and he would provide the ministry with the details of all the bodies within the deadline. Bista said the ministry wanted to keep the record of the national sports associations and their activities to regulate them in the days to come. “There will be only one association of one sport once the Sports Act comes into effect,” he said.