From Dingko Singh, who won a gold medal in boxing at the 1998 Asian Games, the first time and after 25 years, to the magnificent Mary Kom, to former India football captain Rennedy Singh, to multiple world champion Mirabai Chanu – the list of Manipuri sports heroes is almost endless.
The National Sports University (NSU) had a rather curious beginning, in which I was indirectly involved. The year was 2014. Narendra Modi had just been sworn in as Prime Minister of India, the BJP had yet to establish a foothold in Manipur, and several ambitious party hopefuls were making a beeline to 7 Race Course Road to seek an audience with the “Big Man.” Around that time, a group of BJP leaders came to meet me at my house. The delegation was led by N. Rattan, popularly known as Kapu, a young leader who had earlier, in 2012, challenged future Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in the Heingang Assembly constituency.
He called me Oja (teacher) and said, “Please bring your enchanted typewriter.” So, I lugged out my old Olympia, which I had brought from New York in 1991 and on which I had thumped out thousands of words for The Statesman and other publications. We then headed to the Manipur University campus, where there stood a Meitei Yumjao — a traditional Manipuri-style house — and sat on its porch.
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That was when Kapu requested, “Oja, please draft a letter for us to be addressed to the Prime Minister.”
Then I began thumping on the typewriter as one request after another was added. Finally, Kapu said, “Oja, please include a request to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for a Sports University.” I quipped, “Where in the world is there such a concept as a Sports University?” He replied that there was one in China.
The rationale behind the idea was that Manipur is a sports powerhouse. From Dingko Singh, who won a gold medal in boxing at the 1998 Asian Games, the first time and after 25 years, to the magnificent Mary Kom, to former India football captain Rennedy Singh, to multiple world champion Mirabai Chanu – the list of Manipuri sports heroes is almost endless. So where better to locate a sports university?
After typing up the letter, I handed it over to them and asked that they take a computer printout before submitting it to the Prime Minister. Ironically, the future leaders simply appended their signatures to my typewritten draft and presented it as-is. The Prime Minister reportedly asked whether there were no computers in Manipur. The delegation replied aptly, “Sir, we have them, but due to frequent power cuts, we can scarcely use them.” An annoyed Prime Minister is said to have immediately called up the Power Secretary for an explanation. The Secretary replied that Manipur owed the Centre several crores in power tariffs. Modi reportedly said he would make arrangements to settle the dues but that the state should not suffer for want of electricity. Soon after, Manipur began receiving an uninterrupted power supply from the national grid. Subsequently, Modi announced on the floor of Parliament the establishment of a National Sports University in Manipur.
The then Chief Minister, O. Ibobi Singh of the Congress, wanted to locate the NSU in his home district of Thoubal. However, around 300 acres were to be acquired, which led to a protracted tussle between landowners and the government, causing a year-long stalemate.
During this time, villagers from Koutruk, Senjam Chirang, and Senjam Khunou offered to donate 360 acres of land free of cost for the university. Their only condition was that, being from the state’s hinterland, at least 50 per cent of the Class II and IV jobs be reserved for residents of the three villages.
As events unfolded, the NSU authorities reneged on that promise. In October this year, the NSU secretly appointed 15 persons to Group III and IV posts without issuing any public advertisement in print or electronic media. When questioned, Registrar Laishram Dibamani Singh allegedly claimed that these appointments were made not by the NSU but by a private security agency ~ an absurd statement, as if the agency was running the university. It appeared he had colluded with the officiating Vice-Chancellor to make the appointments. Since their salaries were drawn from the NSU budget at central pay rates, one suspects that money may have changed hands.This matter was brought to the attention of the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports by the Civil Society Organisation Apunba Imagi Machasing (AIMS), headed by the indefatigable Kapu. He met the minister in person and submitted a memorandum, requesting either a CBI probe or an internal inquiry. However, if such an inquiry were to be conducted by the current officiating Vice-Chancellor, Associate Professor Shyam Sundar Rath, it would serve no purpose.
Earlier, on 24 August this year, controversy erupted when the NSU held interviews for Assistant Coaches in various disciplines, including boxing. Among the candidates was a young woman boxer.
An internally displaced person (IDP) who had fled her home in Churachandpur due to the Kuki-Meitei conflict, this gutsy young woman who had completed an M.Sc. in Sports Science (Boxing) from NSU and a diploma in Sports Therapy from NIS Patiala, appeared for the interview.
She was grilled for 45 minutes, whereas the next candidate, an outsider, was questioned for only 10. Rumours circulated that the latter had met privately with the officiating Vice-Chancellor the day before the interview. And to no one’s surprise, the outsider was selected. The officiating Vice-Chancellor then claimed that the local candidate lacked UGC qualifications ~ a blatant lie, as the post was for an Assistant Coach, not a lecturer.
Graft at the NSU has a long history. In 2017, ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s scheduled visit to lay the foundation stone for the NSU, Rs 5 crore had been sanctioned and disbursed for levelling a small hillock for the event. It was later discovered that no new work had been done; instead, an already levelled ground prepared earlier by the state PWD was shown as new. The Prime Minister eventually laid the foundation stone virtually from the cricket stadium at Luwangshangbam, in the then Chief Minister’s constituency.
When Major (Retd) Yambem Angamba Singh, then Deputy Project Director of the NSU and a former Aide-de-Camp to B.K. Nehru and Jagmohan during their tenures as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, raised questions about the tendering process during an Executive Board Meeting chaired by the then Union YAS Secretary, Rahul Prasad Bhatnagara, in Delhi, no answers were forthcoming and his queries were expunged from the minutes of the meeting. Shortly after, his services were discontinued, with the powers-that-be choosing not to renew his contract. Only when civil society groups escalated the matter to the Prime Minister was a CBI case finally registered.
At the root of the current impasse lies the issue of appointing a regular Vice-Chancellor for the University. Initially, the Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports oversaw thr NSU’s operations, until R.C. Mishra (IAS, Retd.) ~ whose only relevant experience was a past posting as Deputy Commissioner of Churachandpur ~ was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor. His service was discontinued after five years following a complaint from the Manipur Olympic Association that he was over 70 years old.
Since then, the post has remained vacant for more than two years. Two rounds of selection have been held, but the results of neither have been announced. The issue was raised in Parliament by Dr. Bimol Akoijam, MP from Manipur and a member of the Lok Sabha Committee on Youth Affairs and Sports. The Union Minister reportedly assured that the results would be declared “shortly” — months ago. Insiders allege that the going “market rate” for the Vice-Chancellor’s post is around Rs 2 crore, which may explain the delay.
Recently, the residents of Koutruk, Senjam Chirang, and Senjam Khunou ~ who had donated 360 acres of land free of cost ~ held a protest at the NSU campus, demanding the immediate removal of the officiating Vice-Chancellor and Registrar, termination of the 15 fraudulently appointed employees, and appointment of a regular Vice-Chancellor without delay.
Speaking to The Statesman, the village leaders warned that they would block the university gates and halt all future development activity within the campus if their demands are not met.
It now appears that Narendra Modi’s dream of propelling Indian sports to new heights is turning into a nightmare — thanks to the mishandling of his own dream project, tainted by greed and incompetence.
