December 11, 2017: Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore has said, the government will launch a ‘Khelo India’ programme at a cost of 1,756 crore rupees for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20. He said the initiative marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the programme aims at mainstreaming sports as a tool for individual development, community development, economic development and national development.
Col Rathore said, the initiative will impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy. He was addressing the Yuva Sambardhana Utsav organized by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, at KIIT Campus, Bhubaneswar yesterday.
Highlighting some salient features of the programme, the Union minister said, a new Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which will cover 1,000 most talented young athletes each year across select sports disciplines will be introduced. He said each athlete selected under the scheme will receive an annual scholarship worth 5 lakh rupees for 8 years. He said, as per the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the sports will be given priority in Schools and Colleges under Khelo India Campaign. Mr Rathore said, the year 2018 will be celebrated as Year of Sports.
The Khelo India campaign aims to promote 150 select schools in as many districts, and 20 universities across the country, as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sportspersons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.
The minister said the programme would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive. Under the scheme, a campaign will be launched from January 31, 2018, to February 8, 2018, to spot sports talents under 17 years in schools, which will be telecast live. (AIR News)
