GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday said that the 33rd National Games which begins here on Friday would be the biggest ever despite a threat and boycott call issued by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

"The National Games in Guwahati will be the biggest ever from various aspects. It will have the highest number of participants, the highest number of events and thus medals, and also the best infrastructure in any of the previous venues so far," Mr Gogoi said.

Stating that the Government had made the best security arrangements, he appealed to all, including the ULFA, "to cooperate instead of opposing or criticising an event that is going to boost the image of Assam outside." The event will be inaugurated by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on February 9.

"There is intelligence inputs that the ULFA might make attempts to disrupt and disturb the Games. But we have made the best security arrangements," Mr. Gogoi said.

He also denied reports that his government had "managed" the ULFA at least for holding the games hassle-free, and said the ULFA had not withdrawn its boycott call.

Writing on the wall

"It is however encouraging that the entire people of the State have come out openly to oppose the ULFA's boycott call. I hope the ULFA notices the writing on the wall," the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Gogoi said that his government would also soon identify the insurgency-infested areas along the inter-state and international boundaries and take up special developmental programmes aimed at directly hitting at the breeding grounds of insurgent groups.

He said that while doubling the income of the farmers of the State had been the priority of his government in the past couple of years, it now wanted to tackle insurgency by directly addressing the developmental needs of those areas "where young people are easily recruited by the insurgent groups."

Insurgency problem

"Insurgency has to be tackled through developmental activities, and when the young people acquire employable skills and get support from financial institutions, they will definitely not get attracted to insurgent groups," Mr. Gogoi said.

He said high school dropout rate in the State was another reason why insurgent groups including the ULFA were finding boys to join them and pointed out that the State Government in the 11th Plan period would also strive to bring down the dropout rate to the lowest minimum possible.

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