For
the very first time, India bagged a triplefigure victory by winning a total 107
medals at the recently concluded 19 th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, People’s
Republic of China. None of this happened overnight nor was it due to good luck.
It is the result of Narendra Modi-led central government’s planned efforts over
the last 4-5 years through various initiatives like the ‘Khelo India’ campaign.
The purpose of this article is to apprise readers about this initiative.
It
is commendable that Indian athletes won triplefigure number of medals
especially when their opponents were from countries like China and Japan. And
there is absolutely no doubt that this will further boost confidence of other
players. The performance displayed during this tournament will definitely send
a message to other players that if they also take advantage of the available
resources and work hard, they will be successful at the international level.
The ‘Khelo India’ initiative reaffirmed the belief that if athletes are ready
to work hard, the government will back them in their efforts.
Indian
sportspersons rarely made it to the top at the Olympics or the Commonwealth
Games or other international championships held worldwide. Despite being a
densely populated country, we rarely saw Indian athletes bagging gold and
silver medals at these competitions. Reason: sports never got importance in the
country. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi always laid emphasis on sports and
launched the ‘Khelo India’ initiative in 2018 with a budgetary allocation of
around Rs 4,000 crore. He always insisted that while India marches towards
development in other fields, sports sector must also not be left behind. PM
Modi held discussions with senior sportspersons from various sports and tried
to understand reasons why Indian sportspersons despite having the potential,
were not successful at the international competitions barring the exception of
cricket. It was for the first time that the country had witnessed their Prime
Minister taking the initiative of personally interacting with renowned athletes
and trying to understand the reasons why Indian athletes were lagging behind at
the international level. ’Khelo India’ campaign was the result of PM Modi’s
interactions with these sportspersons.
This
campaign was introduced to provide necessary facilities to the athletes from
rural and remote areas along with the urban areas to further help boost their
skills. Under this initiative, various competitions including ‘Khelo India Yuva
Competitions’ and ‘Khelo India University Competitions’ were being conducted
over the last 4-5 years. A ‘Khelo India Centre’ was also set up and today more
than 1,000 such centres have been started at the district level in the last 5
years. The Modi government has vowed to provide necessary opportunities in the
field of sports to the deserving 23 lakh school students. Annual sports
competitions are also conducted to identify talented athletes and to impart
training to them right at the school level under the ‘Khelo India’ campaign.
Interestingly, like other government schemes, this campaign is also executed
under Modi government’s direct supervision.
The
government makes sure that necessary infrastructural facilities are available
for the athletes wherever the ‘Khelo India’ tournaments are conducted.
Necessary first-rate standard facilities like stadiums are created at the
district level. Also, the quality of stadiums has been improved. Training
centres are opened and the quality of facilities that were already available
has also been improved. The government decided to telecast ‘Khelo India’
competitions live thereby trying to create an interest in the minds of students
who are vying to participate in such competitions and also to get school
students to turn to playgrounds either as spectators or as sports enthusiasts.
The government provides scholarships to players selected through these
competitions. This scholarship is used for purchasing sports material and
equipment and also to help athletes maintain a fixed diet. The amount gets
credited to their bank accounts and the sportspersons do not have to visit
government offices to get this funding. Modi government has also started sports
universities at different places. This gradually helped improve their
performance and its cumulative effect was seen during the recent performances
of these athletes.
Under
the ‘Target Olympic Podium Scheme’, players are given an allowance of Rs 50,000
per month, quality training, necessary technical facilities, materials and
equipment.The government has made provisions to pay Rs 6.28 lakh per athlete
per annum under the ‘Khelo India’ initiative. Nearly 2,500 young athletes
receive this benefit every year. It is seen that many youngsters have the
potential and the willingness to work hard but many a times, financial
constraints prevent them from exploring sports as a career option. But this
funding helped young athletes and their parents to procure necessary material
and training. Players like PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and others have benefitted
from this scheme and PV Sindhu had publicly stated how she was benefitted from
the ‘Target Olympic Podium Scheme’. Manu Bhaker, who won a gold medal in
shooting at the Asian Games, has also praised ‘Khelo India’ competitions.
Prime
Minister Modi is working towards creating a sports culture in the minds of all
including the social groups of parents, administrators and government employees
by changing their approach towards sports. The central government, through its
‘Khelo India’ initiative, has shown the readiness to do whatever it takes to
produce quality players who will excel at the international level. Players do
deserve credit for their outstanding performance at the Asian tournaments but
contribution done by the Modi government can also not be ignored, is all that I
wish to convey on this occasion.
(Article Pre-Published in Times of
India -16 October. 2023)
Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson
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