Rongmon, the 33rd National Games mascot

Guwahati, March 31: The Tarun Gogoi government today said the Assam Olympic Association (AOA) was responsible for the creation of the 33rd National Games mascot, Rongmon, and thus the onus of paying the artists was on the association and not on the government.

Replying to a question by AGP legislator Joseph Toppo about acknowledging the artists of the rhino mascot for the mega event, state forest and tourism minister Rockybul Hussain said there was no question of honouraria for the artists, as the National Games Secretariat (NGS) had never floated any tender for the artists to draw a mascot. He said the AOA had taken the initiative to create the mascot and has never applied for any financial grant from the government for the purpose.

Though Toppo had asked about the identity of the artists, the minister, who is at present the general secretary of the AOA, remained silent.

AOA joint secretary Anup Choudhury, who took the initiative to create the mascot by holding a competition at Cotton College in 2003, felt the minister should have acknowledged the artists’ contribution, by naming them in the Assembly. “It would have been an encouragement to the young artists,” he said.

Amateur artists Raju Sarma, Rishi Das and Basu Boro gave initial shape to the mascot, which was fine-tuned by veteran artist Bhupen Chakravarty.

They were eventually felicitated at a public function at Gitanagar playground on August 29, 2003. Graphic designer J. Gogoi animated the mascot on computer.

Choudhury admitted that the AOA did not apply for the necessary grants to give the artists a token honouraria “because the AOA was eventually reduced to a mere non-existent entity” till the Games were over.

“We were not in a position to apply for any grants as there was no one to heed us. However, since the AOA has been revamped into an organised house after the Games, we can now take the initiative to gratify the artists concerned,” he said.

Although the AOA was supposed to organise the National Games, Dispur organised the event under the banner of the National Games Secretariat. Though an organising committee was constituted with government officials and ministers at the helm of affairs, a majority of the AOA representatives had alleged that they were kept in the dark about almost every development related to organisng the event.