CHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 26: The Organising Committee of National Games-2001 will meet on January 15, next year, at the Punjab Bhawan here. The meeting has been convened on the advise of Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi and secretary general Randhir Singh. Both will attend the OCNG meeting.The primary objective of the meeting is to ``bury the rumours that Punjab is not ready for the National Games allotted to the Punjab Olympic Association,''POA sources said.POA president and Union Chemical and Fertilizer Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa met IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and secretary Randhir Singh in New Delhi on December 20 and assured them that Punjab is fully prepared to host the National Games in March. Kalmadi and Randhir advised the POA president to convene the OCNG to review the progress made in organising the Games.``The top IOA bigwigs, if they wish, would visit Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Anandpur Sahib and Chandigarh to inspect the venues before announcing their final decision,'' said the POA sources.Meanwhile, the Centre has released the promised grant to Punjab for the Games. According to sources in the POA, the money has been received while, Punjab Government has also released Rs 5 crore out of 15 crore promised by it for the Games.The sources said ``money is not a problem. However, some of the sports equipment are yet to be received. The hockey astroturf for the Olympian Surjit Singh Stadium in Jalandhar has been cleared by Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.''The POA sources said ``the accommodation for athletes and officials have been identified and marked in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Anandpur Sahib, Patiala and Chandigarh, where the competitions in various disciplines will be conducted.''Though the venues of the disciplines have been identified, there is uncertainity about the shooting events. The work on construction of a shooting range in SAS Nagar (Mohali) is yet to begin, raising doubts about the `new' venue. The POA sources said ``In case the Mohali Range is ready, the shooting events would be shifted to Phillaur Shooting Range, considered to be one of the best in the country.''
