BHUBANESWAR: In a move to identify sporting talent and groom them, the Centre will launch ‘Khelo India’ across the country from January 31, 2018 to February 8, said Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore here on Sunday.The programme will cover about 20 crore children in the age group of 10 to 18 years under a massive national physical drive which will be telecast live. A similar programme will also be launched for under-21 year college students.
Addressing a youth felicitation programme organised by Nehru Yuva Kendra, Odisha zone on KIIT campus, the Union Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a revamped Khelo India programme at a cost of `1,756 crore for 2017-18 to 2019-20. The primary objective of this programme is to search talent and prepare them for 2024 and 2028 Olympics.
“Our aim is 2024 and 2028 Olympics. The spotted talents will be imparted specialised training to make them medal winners. Our youths and students are highly talented. They will be provided enough opportunity and environment as well as sports infrastructure to excel in this field,” he said.
Under Khelo India programme, 150 selected schools in 150 districts and 20 universities across the country will be promoted as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sports persons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports. `1000 crore has been earmarked for this programme.
Describing some of the salient features of the programme, Rathore said a new pan-Indian sports scholarship scheme for 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 of ` five lakh for eight consecutive years.
This is the first time that a long-term athlete development pathway will be made available to gifted and talented youngsters to excel in competitive sports and will create a pool of highly competitive athletes who can compete to win at the world stage. 2018 will be celebrated as Year of Sports and sports will be given priority in school, college and university level under Khelo India campaign.
The Union Minister also visited the KIIT and KISS campus and interacted with the tribal students.