Guwahati, Nov. 16: Nearly 10 international and 40 leading national-level athletes will be seen in action during the three-day 31st BSF inter-frontier athletics meet at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here from tomorrow.

Altogether 700 athletes, including Padmashree and Arjuna awardees, are going to represent 11 frontiers of the paramilitary forces in the first ever meet of the force in the Northeast. The participating frontiers are Srinagar, Jammu, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, South Bengal, North Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland, Headquarters, hosts Assam and Meghalaya. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will inaugurate the meet tomorrow and Meghalaya Governor R.D. Mooshahary will attend the closing ceremony on Wednesday.

Giving details about the meet, the BSF inspector-general (Assam and Meghalaya frontiers), P.K Mishra, today said Assam frontier would be represented by the biggest contingent of about 78 athletes and hoped the Assam and Meghalaya frontiers would make the most of the 23-event meet. The events include decathlon, jump, race, marathon run and throw.

“The directorate-general has awarded us the mega event in view of the grand success in hosting the 33rd National Games in Guwahati last year,” Mishra said.

One of the star attractions in the meet will be home favourite and SAF Games medallist Jagadish Basak.

The 42-km marathon will be flagged off from the Indira Gandhi Stadium at 4.45am on Tuesday and will traverse through the National highway to the airport in Borjhar and return through the same to culminate at the starting point.

Mishra further appealed to the unemployed sportspersons in Assam and Meghalaya to join the paramilitary force. “We have been regularly recruiting 10 talented sportspersons in Assam every year and apart from that we are also giving special priority to sportspersons in the general recruitment. Anyone, fulfilling the criteria and willing to join the force can contact us directly,” he said.

About the criteria, he said anyone who has represented India is eligible for recruitment. “We recruit graduates as sub-inspectors, under-graduates as constables and those with academic qualification below class X are recruited as followers. But all of them are given the best possible facilities to excel in their respective sports,” Mishra said.