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Vishwa Pratap Singh,
Delhi Metropolitan Education
Introduction –
Khelo India Games is a nation-scale multisport event focusing on strengthening grassroots sports and developing young talent in India. Sports act as an integral stimulus for the holistic development of our country. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports launched the initiative back in 2018. Since then, India has made great strides in the realm of sports. The basic idea behind it is to encourage participation among youth in various disciplines, finally creating a healthy culture and competition. This great potential should be highlighted on the world stage. Through various national and international sports events held all over the globe where different players represent their respective countries and showcase their capabilities of physical prowess, one can believe the fact that sports play great importance in our day-to-day lives. It is achieved through offering resources, training, and exposure to the pipeline to create a strong sports ecosystem in the country. Sports promotes a sense of leadership qualities, and abiding goal-setting abilities to take risks amid competition. A healthy person contributes to a healthy community and a strong nation.
The Khelo India program is an attempt to build sports culture in India. It strives to put a robust foundation for all sports across the country, thus making India a sporting nation.
Khelo India Centres of Excellence –
Khelo India State Centres of Excellence, or KISCE in short, is a sports facility spread over India. Such centres are established with the support of existing venues so that valuable essentials needed by talented athletes are readily provided. Every KISCE centre emphasizes three different types of sports. To strengthen the grassroots sports infrastructure across the country, the Sports Ministry has sanctioned 341 sports infrastructure projects under the flagship Khelo India Scheme and National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)[i]
In November 2020, Minerva Academy was accredited as one of the centres of KISCE.[ii]
History and background of Khelo India Games -
The Khelo India Programme is a national initiative that seeks to promote sports in India. This particular programme was launched by Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the year 2018, who was the Sports Minister of Delhi at that time. The main aim of this program is to raise the sports culture across the nation. The Union Cabinet has given a nod for the revamped version of the 'Khelo India' program, which aims to infuse sports as an integral part of national, economic, community, and personal development. The new initiative will integrate the 'Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan', previously known as 'Yuva Krida & Khel Abhiyan', the 'Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme', and the National Sports Talent Search System Programme. The program encourages "Sports for Excellence" and "Sports for All".
The Khelo Indian Programme is one of the most important subjects in the IAS Exam and other governmental examinations. Being one such initiative by the government, it holds a big space inside the UPSC Syllabus. Candidates can find detailed information about the Khelo India National Programme for Development of Sports on the Official Website.
Objectives of Khelo India Programme –
Following are the broad objectives of Khelo India Programme –
1. Youth from Deprivation Areas: Involving youths from deprived areas in sports will not indulge them in undesirable activities.
2. Central Sector Scheme: It has been funded and implemented by the Centre for National Impact.
3. Long-term Development: An eight-year developmental structure will be provided to the rising athletes.
4. Quality Competitions: Good-quality competitions will be introduced through encouraging schools and colleges.
5. Holistic Influence: Influence the entire sporting atmosphere and its economy and infrastructures.
6. Gross Physical Fitness: A National Gross Physical Fitness Campaign will enrol youths of ages 10 to 18 in healthy fitness.
7. Scholarships Sports: 1000 gifted young man and woman athletes from all sports receive scholarships every year.
8. Doves for Sport and Education: Emphasis on education along with sport; 20 universities shall be named as centres of sporting institutes.
9. Tech-promotion: Use of tools like GIS, websites, and apps for the promotion of sports.
Participants of Khelo India – Who can participate in Khelo India
Participation is open to those who meet the following age-based criteria for the Khelo India Programme:Under-17 Category: Candidates below 17 years are eligible for participation in the under-17 category.Under-21 Category: All those athletes below the age of 21 may participate under the under-21 category.
These age groups determine the eligibility of athletes who can participate in which categories and events under the Khelo India Programme.
Features of Khelo India –
There are certain features of Khelo India that are highlighted below [iii] –
· Alternative career development: When opportunities are very few, and a job is not easily achieved, sport serves as an excellent mobility device. A well-developed sports sector keeps an average or poor academic student making a career in sports.
· Reaping demographic dividend: India has a very young population and will soon be the world's youngest country. In such a scenario, a strong sports sector can help reap the potential demographic dividend.
· Revenue generation: A Strong sports infrastructure in our country would enable India to host more international events. Such hosting increases tourism in the country and leads to increased revenue generation and employment in the region. Ex: IPL
· It develops a spirit of Unity in Diversity: Improvement in sports automatically fosters brotherhood amongst the people of diverse nations. For example, the Pan India support enjoyed by the Indian cricket team enhances a sense of belongingness between India's north and south.
· Gender equality: The government will ensure equal opportunities are offered and support given to female athletes because equal participation of girls in sports would guarantee equality for men and women.
· Increase funds allocation: A good percentage of funds in sports can boost the spirit of sports in the country and adequate funds for developing sports.
· Uniformity in sports activities: Sports being a state subject, uniformity in sports activities across different states of India becomes necessary in order to provide equal sporting opportunities to all citizens of the country.
Pros and Cons of the Khelo India Policy –
The implementation of any policy represents two sides of the same coin, embodying both its advantages and disadvantages. The following outlines the benefits i.e. the significance and drawbacks associated with the policy.
Significance of the Policy –
· Promoting the importance of sports and fitness: The program shows a message about the importance of sports and fitness in one's life, as playing sports inculcates team spirit and develops strategic as well as analytical thinking, leadership skills, goal setting, and risk-taking.
· Enhancement of confidence and social skills: Through being involved, the players enhance their self-confidence, teamwork, and leadership capacity; besides, they increase their socialization. The program focuses on teamwork as providing an opportunity for children to find their way in leadership, differences in personalities, how to work with others, and how to get along.
· Involve Girls in Sport Program: This program tries to get girls involved in sports activities and engaged with a good opportunity for testing their talents.
· Thus, the emphasis the program places on indigenous games and girls' participation in sports makes it a very significant step towards achieving diversity and inclusion in sports.
· Creating class sports infrastructure: The program shall create sports infrastructure in the country which includes training facilities, stadiums, and sports complexes. Such helps to establish a conducive environment for use by the athletes for high-level training and competitions.
· Sports for development and peace: The program has to utilize sports, physical activity, and play so as to attain particular development and peace goals, and it should support sports for development and peace.
Drawbacks of the policy –
· Lack of awareness and participation: One of the main problems with the Khelo India program is that there is very little or no awareness of the program by the masses. When such a program works a lot at grassroots levels where sports and exercise are promoted, several people still lack awareness of the kind of program existing, which then means low participation.
· Infrastructure challenges: Infrastructure challenges are another challenge the Khelo India program faces. The program, by its attempts at creating sports infrastructure of international standard at all affordable places in the country, still lags in many areas without adequate training facilities, stadiums, and sports complexes.
· Train coaches’ shortage: The program is only as good as the quality of train coaches because, at the grassroots level, they will provide good coaching to the athletes. Still, the shortage of trained coaches affects the program.
· Lack of indigenous game support: The program is supposed to assist and push forward indigenous games, but there was no good support or infrastructure in terms of popularity and development for these indigenous games.
· The program has initiated a lot of steps to enhance the opportunities for girls in sports; however, there remains gender bias in many places where girls often find a lack of opportunities and support, resulting in less ability to participate and excel in sports.
Impact of Khelo India over the nation –
To the record, Khelo India has been a predictor factor at the Asian games.[iv]
India had a history with its 107 medals bagged during the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. For the first time in its history, India has entered the triple-figure victory zone. This is no coincidental outcome but a product of well-planned efforts by the central government over the last 4-5 years, particularly through the 'Khelo India' campaign. The article intends to keep readers informed about this very important initiative.
That is good because Indian athletes have really come out so victorious, especially when pitted against heavyweights like China and Japan. At least such achievement shall inspire others. Their performances in this tournament will prove that if resources exist and they work hard, success can be achieved at the international level. The 'Khelo India initiative proves that if these athletes are devoted, the government will stand behind their efforts.
This was done to provide much-needed support to both rural and urban athletes as they were being trained in their chosen sport. Competitions like 'Khelo India Yuva Competitions' and 'Khelo India University Competitions' have been organized in the last 4-5 years. A 'Khelo India Centre' was initiated, and today, over 1,000 such centres have been established at the district level in the last 5 years. The Modi government has vowed to provide sports opportunities to 23 lakh school-going meritorious students. There are annual sports events aimed at finding talent and then grooming them at the school level with the 'Khelo India' movement. Significantly, like other schemes running by the government, the scheme is directly run by the Modi government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modiji aspires to give sports culture to all-inclusive people like parents, administrators, and government workers through a transformation of their mindsets relating to sports. The central government, through its 'Khelo India' scheme, assures to develop of world-class athletes who will deliver at an international level. No doubt, players deserve credit for their creditable performances in Asian tournaments, but we cannot ignore the fact that it is also the Modi government which is sustaining that bouquet of support.
Conclusion –
In conclusion, the Khelo India games form a crucial step toward a change in the sports culture in India by discovering and nurturing grassroots talent from across the country. They encourage participation at the grassroots level and provide a structured environment for the athletes to groom their skills while allowing the country to make itself fit and sporting, thus giving a new generation a valid reason to strive for excellence in sports. This initiative adds the flavour of community spirit and national pride, as it brings together participants from all corners of the country to compete and collaborate. In effect, the Khelo India Games make a huge contribution toward India's sporting culture to prepare the country for Olympians and champions with values being imbued into the young minds in the form of hard work, discipline, and team spirit.
References –
[i] Abhinandan Verma, Khelo India: Govt adds 341 facilities, over 1,000 sports centres to bolster youth potential (February 23, 2024,12:03), https://www.financialexpress.com/business/infrastructure-khelo-india-govt-adds-341-facilities-over-1000-sports-centres-to-bolster-youth-potential-3345062/
[ii] (Nov 9, 2020, 15:22) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/minerva-academy-now-a-khelo-india-state-centre-of-excellence/articleshow/79126387.cms
[iv] Keshav Upadhye, ‘Khelo India’ – a determinant factor at the Asian Games, (October 16, 2023, 8:30 AM), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/khelo-india-a-determinant-factor-at-the-asian-games/
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