'Khelo India' programme to be launched from 2018: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Sunday (December 10) said the government will launch a 'Khelo India' programme at a cost of Rs 1,756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

This 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, he said.

The initiative would impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy, said Rathore, who is also Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.

Highlighting some salient features of the programme, the Union minister said a new Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which would cover 1,000 most talented young athletes each year across select sports disciplines will be introduced.

Each athlete selected under the scheme will receive an annual scholarship worth Rs 5 lakh for 8 years, Rathore said, addressing the 'Yuva Sambardhana Utsav'. The year 2018 will be celebrated as Year of Sports, he said.

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 sports persons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.

The programme would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive, the minister said.

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.

Likewise, another programme will be launched for under-21 college students.

"Our aim is 2024 and 2028 Olympics. The spotted talents will be imparted specialised training to make them medal winners," Rathore said.

"We can't produce national and international level sports persons with huge infrastructure only. For this, we need strong will power," the minister said at another event at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) here.