The National Games mascot

New Delhi/Guwahati, Dec. 20: The National Games will be held on schedule and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will, in all likelihood, attend the function, it was announced today.

It took a fortnight of round-the-clock preparations and a PowerPoint presentation by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi to convince the Centre to put on the backburner Ulfa’s threat to disrupt the Games and give the final go-ahead.

February 9 has been fixed as the definite date and Manmohan will be present either at the inauguration or the closing ceremony, sources said.

Sports associations of many states had felt it was not safe for their participants in the wake of an “appeal” by Ulfa dissuading them from taking part. Gogoi today made a PowerPoint presentation before sports ministry officials and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) members, including Suresh Kalmadi. The presentation was intended to drive home the point that there was no risk involved in holding the Games on schedule.

The Assam government today also donated Rs 50 lakh to the IOA for meeting the expenses of constructing and upgrading Olympic Bhawan in New Delhi.

“The chief minister gave us his assurance that everyone will be safe in Guwahati. He explained that security arrangements had been taken care of as he had spoken to the Union home ministry as well,” a senior IOA official told The Telegraph after the meeting.

Gogoi and his government will now be very relieved, as the IOA has also expressed satisfaction over Games facilities, including the Games Village, which had been inordinately delayed.