POKHARA, JUNE 4

Gandaki Province Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey announced monthly allowance of Rs 5,000 to Olympians from the province.

CM Pandey lauded the contribution of the Olympians for the country and society. 'The Olympians have dedicated their lives for sports and country. It's an honour for us to felicitate them. Gandaki Province will start providing the Olympians with Rs 5,000 per month as allowance,' said Pandey, during the second Olympians Reunion and Felicitation Programme organised by the Nepal Olympians Association here on Saturday.

A total of seven players from Gandaki Province - athletes Tika Bogati (Gorkha), Gyan Bahadur Bohora (Gorkha) and Rajendra Bhandari (Tanahun), judoka Rishiram Pradhan (Gorkha), taekwondo player Narayan Gurung (Kaski), and shooter Bhagawati Khatri (Baglung) - have represented the country in the Olympics. CM Pandey also said the Gandaki Province would host the School To Olympics programme orgnaised by the NOA. 'You can add Gandaki Province in the list as we are also eager to host the School To Olympics programme,' he said. The NOA has already organised the programme in Sudurpashchim, Karnali and Koshi provinces.

The NOA felicitated the 1984 Olympians - athlete Pushpa Raj Ojha, Arjun Pandit, Amiri Yadav, Pravin Tuladhar, Man Bahadur Shrestha, Jagadish Pradhan and Surendra Hamal - on the occasion, while boxer Dal Bahadur Rana was honoured posthumously.A total of 42 Olympians including Ram Prasad Gurung - one of the first six Olympians from 1964 Tokyo Games - were present in the reunion programme. CM Pandey handed over certificate and shawl to the Olympians.

Olympian athlete Ojha thanked the NOA for the honour and said the reunion programme made them nostalgic.

'We got the opportunity to meet fellow Olympians in the reunion and share our experiences among us,' said Ojha.

'The programme gave us the chance to know about each other as the Olympians had not been able to meet for long time,' he said. 'We also felt nostalgic at times, especially while sharing our experiences.'

Earlier, the Olympians took part in a walkathon from Hallan Chowk to Fewa Lake where they were joined by Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya, hundreds of athletes, sportspersons and officials. Pokhara Metropolitan City handed over memento to all the Olympians apart from taking them to Talbarahi temple.

The NOA organised the reunion and felicitation programme under the auspices of Sports Development Committee of Pokhara Metropolitan City and Kaski branch of Nepal National and International Players Association. President of Nepal Olympic Committee Jeevan Ram Shrestha, National Sports Council Member Secretary Tanka Lal Ghising, Gandaki Province minister Sushila Simkhada, Provincial Assembly Member Prakash Baral, member secretaries of five Province Sports Development Boards joined the Olympians in a gala dinner organised in their honour.

NOA President Deepak Bista thanked the Pokhara Metropolitan City and Sports Development Committee along with all the supporters for generous support in making programme a grand success. The NOA also organised its annual general assembly on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Olympians Hari Rokaya, Bishnu Bahadur Singh, Raj Kumari Pandey, Gyan Bahadur Bohora, Devu Thapa, Pramila Rijal, Saraswoti Chaudhary, Soniya Bhatta and youth Olympian Manisha Adhikari visited the Surya Bahadur KC Memorial Sahara Academy in Dobilla. Sahara Academy President Suraj Gurung and former President Bikram Thakali welcomed the Olympians. The Olympians interacted with the children at the academy.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 5, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.