National Games of India

The National Games of India comprises various disciplines in which sportsmen from the different states of India participate against each other. The country's first few Olympic Games, now renamed as National Games, were held in North India (Delhi, Lahore, Allahabad, Patiala), Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay.

National Games of India
AbbreviationNG
MottoGet Set Play
First event1924
Occur everyuneven
Last event2015
HeadquartersOlympic Bhawan, B-29, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi
Websitewww.olympic.ind.in

Indian Olympic Games (Early National Games)

In the early 1920s, the Indian chapter of the Olympic movement was born, and India participated in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.[1] As part of this movement, a provisional Indian Olympic Association (IOA) came about by 1924, and the Indian Olympic Games were held in Feb 1924 in Delhi to select Indian competitors for the 1924 Paris Olympics.[2] IOA Secretary Dr. Noehren wrote about these games as follows: "The All India Athletic Carnival, the greatest and most representative gathering of its kind ever to be held in India, was recently celebrated in Delhi...Seventy athletes, representing practically every province and State in the Empire, comprising Hindus, Muslims, Anglo-Indians and Sinhalese, ate their food around the same table and mingled intimately in the cramped and uncomfortable quarters provided."[3]

The games were then held every two years, and were renamed as National Games during the 9th Games in Bombay in 1940. The Indian Olympic Association, the sports organising body of the nation, mooted the concept of the National Games to promote the development of sports and of the Olympic movement in India, and was responsible for host city selection.

Each games was organised by the host city sports association, and each had its unique challenges. For example, in late 1949, the Bengal Provincial Olympic Association, whose turn it was to hold the next national games, could not do so, and the IOA President Maharaja of Patiala then asked Bombay to host the games; it had just three months to organise the event. Bombay government ministers and Bombay olympic association officials then worked to hold the 1950 National Games in Bombay in early February 1950.

While held at various cities, the organisation of each national games was roughly similar, with an overarching 'Jury of Honour and Appeal' comprising the main officials for the games; and other officials such as a General Manager and Managers; Referee; Official Surveyor; Judges; Starters; Clerks of the Course; Recorders; Announcers; Scorers; Marshals; and Photographers.

For example, at the 11th Games in Patiala, Feb 1944, the Jury of Honor and Appeal comprised Moinul Haq (Chair), N.Ahmed, SK Mukherjee, S de Noronha, S Bhoot, JN Khosla, Raja Birindra Singh, AC Dass, MS Ahluwalia, BR Kagal, CR Dhodapkar, Nawab Hussain, SV Lingras, RS Dr Kailash Singh, NN Kunzru, and PK Varghese. And the officials included 6 Managers for various sports, General Manager R S Kirpanarain, announcers Basir Ali Sheikh and Prem Kumar, and several judges.

At the 13th Games in Lucknow, Feb. 1948, the Jury of Honour and Appeal comprised Moinul Haq (Chair), M Sultan, S Bhoot, DN Sharma, MG Nageshkar, Raja Bhalinder Singh, BC Holanti, Rameshwar Dayal, S de Noronha, PK Verghese, N Ahmed, AC Das, Kripa Narain, PC Joshi, GD Sondhi, Janki Das, Harbail Singh, Vasant Captain, and AR Khanna. And the officials included General Manager M. Sultan and 8 Managers for various sports; Referee G D Sondhi; Official Surveyors G D Sondhi, N Ahmed, S Bhoot, and M Sultan; announcer D Abraham; and several judges and other officials.

At the 14th Games in Bombay, Feb 1950, the Jury of Honour and Appeal comprised G D Sondhi (Chair), N Ahmed, R Narain, S Bhoot, M Sultan, R Dayal, F C Aurora, S S Dhawan, Bhalinder Singh, M G Nageskar, A S DeMello, S K Basu, B C Mahante, and C C Abraham. And the officials included Referee Moinul Haq; Manager in Chief Sohrab Bhoot; Managers Nariman Saugar and Y A Gole; announcer David Abraham; and judges and other officials.

Modern National Game of India comes

For several years in the mid-twentieth century, the national games were conducted on a low key note. However, the first Modern National Games on the lines of the Olympics were held in 1985 in New Delhi. Thereafter Kerala (1987), Pune-Maharashtra (1994), Bangalore-Karnataka (1997), Manipur (1999), Ludhiana-Punjab (2001), Hyderabad-Andhra Pradesh (2002), Guwahati-Assam (2007), Ranchi-Jharkhand (2011), and Kerala (2015) hosted the Games. Like the early games, the modern games had their challenges: for example, a decision on the sixth modern National Games in Ludhiana-Punjab was delayed because the Central Government diverted funding for the first Afro-Asian Games.[4] The National Games were normally to be held every two years, leaving those years in which the Olympic Games and Asian Games are scheduled. In exceptional cases or natural calamity, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) can relax the general rule. In practice, the games were often held at three to four year intervals in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

List

Summer
List of National Games of India
Edition Year Host(s) Start Date End Date Sports Events Teams Competitors Top Placed Team
Indian Olympic Games
I 1924 Lahore ? ? ???? ?
II 1926 Lahore ? ? ???? ?
III 1928 Lahore ? ? ???? ?
IV 1930 Allahabad ? ? ???? ?
V 1932 Madras ? ? ???? ?
VI 1934 New Delhi ? ? ???? ?
VII 1936 Lahore ? ? ???? ?
VIII 1938 Calcutta ? ? ???? ?
National Games
IX 1940 Bombay ? ? ???? ?
X 1942 Patiala ? ? ???? ?
XI 1944 Lahore ? ? ???? ?
XII 1946 Lahore ? ? ???? ?
XIII 1948 Lucknow ? ? ???? ?
XIV 1952 Madras ? ? ???? ?
XV 1953 Jubbulpore ? ? ???? ?
XVI 1954 New Delhi ? 6 ???? ?
XVII 1956 Patiala ? ? ???? ?
XVIII 1958 Cuttack ? ? ???? ?
XIX 1960 New Delhi ? ? ???? ?
XX 1962 Jabalpur ? ? ???? ?
XXI 1964 Calcutta ? ? ???? ?
XXII 1966 Bangalore ? ? ???? ?
XXIII 1968 Madras ? ? ???? ?
XXIV 1970 Cuttack ? ? ???? ?
XXV 1979 Hyderabad ? ? ???? ?
National Games (Summer Olympics format)
XXVI 1985 New Delhi 19 November 26 November 26?21? Maharashtra
XXVII 1987 Cannanore, Calicut, Trichur, Kochi, Quilon & Alleppey 20 December 28 December 22??6400 Kerala
XXVIII 1994 Bombay & Pune 16 January 25 January 2729028? Maharashtra
XXIX 1997 Bangalore & Mysore 31 May 11 June 26??5245 Karnataka
XXX 1999 Imphal 14 February 25 February 27?306278 Manipur
XXXI 2001 Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Anandpur Sahib & Mohali 19 November 1 December 27??8000 Punjab
XXXII 2002 Hyderabad, Secunderabad & Visakhapatnam 13 December 22 December 30?348000 Andhra Pradesh
XXXIII 2007 Guwahati 9 February 18 February 32?366800 Services
XXXIV 2011 Ranchi, Jamshedpur & Dhanbad 12 February 26 February 33444366979 Services
XXXV 2015 Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Kannur 31 January 14 February 33405367744 Services
XXXVI 2020 Goa 4 November 17 November 37
XXXVII 2021 Chhattisgarh
XXXVIII 2022 Uttarakhand
XXXIX 2023 Meghalaya

Winter
List of National Winter Games of India
Competition name Number Year Venue
National Winter Games1st1996Gulmarg
2nd2000Manali
3rd2002Auli
4th2004Gulmarg
5th2008Gulmarg

List of Winners
Year Host 1st Position 2nd Position 3rd Position
2007 Assam Services Manipur Assam
2011 Jharkhand Services Manipur Haryana
2015 Kerala Services Kerala Haryana

Performance of Host States

In recent times, the host states of National Games have consistently featured in the top 5 in the overall medal tally. Kerala had become the Champions when it hosted the event in 1987. The 1997 National Games was hosted by Karnataka and they won the largest number of medals. Manipur which had finished 9th in the 1997 National Games, became the overall champions when they hosted the event two years later. In 2001, hosts Punjab became the champions. Andhra Pradesh which had won only 11 Gold Medals in 2001 went on to become the Champions when they hosted it in 2002 winning a whopping 94 Gold Medals overall. Assam had managed to win only a single gold medal and had finished 21st position in 2001. But, in the subsequent 2007 National Games that they hosted, they were the second runners-up winning a total of 38 Gold Medals. In 2011, Assam finished 15th overall winning only 5 Gold Medals. Jharkhand had been in the 15th position in 2007 National Games. They rose to the 5th position when they hosted it in 2011. In 2015, hosts Kerala secured the second spot in the medal tally. One main reason for this trend is the higher number of participants from the host state and comparatively lesser number of participants from other states.[5]

Future Games

Though National Games are supposed to be held once in 2 years, it is faltering on this schedule. It took Guwahati five years to conduct the games after the National Games in 2002 was organised in Andhra Pradesh.

The 34th National Games had been postponed six times before finally opening on February 12, 2011.[6] The 35th National Games were to be held at Trivandrum in 2012, it was then announced that it would be held from 31 January to February 14, 2015.[7] The 36th National Games were to be held at Goa[8] as announced at the closing ceremony of 35th National Games in Trivandrum, Goa contingent said the games would be held in November 2016, then it was postponed to Nov 2017,[9] however Goa has now declared it inability to host the games altogether.[10] Uttarakhand was to host the 37th National Games.[11] The 38th National Games will be held after that in January 2019 in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.[12][13]

The 39th Edition of the National Games is slated to be held in the year 2022 in the State of Meghalaya, which is in the North Eastern part of India, which comprises eight states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. It is left to see whether the State will be able to pull off the games considering the fact that we are already in the year end of 2019 and the games is in 2022 and also with the past trend of some host states either postponing or cancelling.

Greening the National Games

The 2015 National Games organised in Trivandrum was associated with green protocols.[14] This was initiated by Suchitwa Mission that aimed for "zero-waste" venues. Waste Management programmes were implemented at the 29 venues. To make the event "disposable-free", there was ban on the usage of disposable water bottles.[15] The event witnessed the usage of reusable tableware and stainless steel tumblers.[16] Athletes were provided with refillable steel flasks.[17] It is estimated that these green practices stopped the generation of 120 metric tonnes of disposable waste.[18] Suchitwa Mission requested the help of volunteers to achieve the green objectives,[19] and the service of these 700 volunteers to achieve the green objectives were applauded by the Chief Minister.[20]

gollark: I would add this to my memes folder but it is beyond the ability of my mind to pick a filename for it.
gollark: The blue things are apparently apiocryohazards.
gollark: I mean, in practice, have they ended up... actually neutralizing terrorist groups?
gollark: Do they *work*, though?
gollark: Although that would, er, possibly be worse?

See also

References
  1. Some founders of the Indian Olympic movement were Dorab Tata, A.G. Noehren (Madras College of Physical Education), H.C. Buck (Madras College of Physical Education), Moinul Haq (Bihar sports associations), S. Bhoot (Bombay Olympic Association), Bhagwat (Deccan Gymkhana), and G.D. Sondhi (Punjab Olympic Association). Lt.Col H.L.O. Garrett (vice principal of Government College, Lahore) and Sagnik Poddar (of St.Stephen's School) helped organise the early national games. And prominent patrons included Maharajas and royal princes Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Ranji of Nawanagar, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the Maharaja of Burdwan. See also Punjab, the Spirit of Sport Archived 2008-07-04 at the Wayback Machine, The Tribune, Nov 18, 2001.
  2. Brochures of the 1940s national games mention that the first national games in Delhi were in Feb 1924, though some mention a date of December 1923. All sources are consistent for the 1928 games in Lahore, 1930 games in Allahabad, and for later games.
  3. Brochure, Madras Provincial Olympic Games, January 1950, Madras, p.6
  4. Decision on National Games on Aug.2 Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, The Tribune, July 31, 2001.
  5. "National Games: The Curious Case of the Host State". Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR). Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  6. "Games postponement pangs for players". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. September 27, 2010. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  7. "Kerala to host 35th National Games from January 31". The Hindu.com. 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  8. "No National Games in Goa in 2011: CM". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on February 13, 2011.
  9. "National Games in Goa get postponed further". The Indian Express. 2017-06-07. Archived from the original on 2017-07-13. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  10. Correspondent, Special. "With Goa withdrawing, State keen on hosting National Games". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  11. "Preparations for 2018 National Games begin". The Tribune. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  12. "Amaravati set to host National Games 2019 - Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2015-12-24. Archived from the original on 2015-12-28. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  13. "Chhattisgarh to host 37th National Games in 2013". Sify. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  14. "Green rules of the National Games". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  15. "National Games: Green Panel Recommends Ban on Plastic". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  16. "Kochi a 'Museum City' Too | The New Indian Express | Page 426326". M.newindianexpress.com. 2016-02-08. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  17. "National Games 2015: Simple Steps To Keep Games Green - Trivandrum News - Yentha.com". yentha.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  18. "Setting a New Precedent". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  19. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2015-03-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. "Chandy hails volunteers for 'green' National Games, Kerala - Mathrubhumi English News Online". mathrubhumi.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
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