CHENNAI: In a bid to create a sporting culture in the country, the government is planning to hold four sporting events for various age groups every year, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday. He was speaking at the eighth edition of The New Indian Express ThinkEdu Conclave in the city. “From this year, we are going to have four major games in a year. It’s something unique for India,” Rijiju said. “(We have) Khelo India Youth Games starting in Guwahati.
Then we have the Khelo India School Games, for kids below the age of 17. The University games will be for athletes aged 21-25. Then we will have an event for indigenous games. In alternate years, we will have one event for indigenous games and an event for differently-abled people.”
Rijiju stressed on the importance of creating a sports culture in the country and said that his ministry was fighting hard to dispel the notion that sport was a distraction from studies. “Sports has been a tradition in India. But sports could not be converted into a culture,” he said.
“We see the criticism — you go and play but you don’t win medals. But if the society as a whole does not promote sports as a way of life, and sports doesn’t become a culture, then forget about top ten, we will always be satisfied with one or two medals. India as a nation cannot be satisfied with one or two medals.
“When I was a child, we were talking about how India had the potential to win medals at the Olympics. That potential never translated into reality,” he added.
“We keep on hearing that next time we’ll do better. India is a young country. We have almost 20 per cent of the young population in the world. So if you win one or two medals in the Olympics, it doesn’t justify our position.”
In many of his speeches since taking over as the sports minister, Rijiju had claimed his target was to get into the top ten of the Olympic medal tally by 2028. He reiterated that claim on Thursday, but claimed that it was no rhetoric. “The challenge (to become a sporting power) is very very difficult,” Rijiju said.
“But nothing is impossible. There’s a cycle of around 8-12 years to produce a world champion. It takes time, from scouting of talent to training to all kinds of scientific input, and finally he or she has to really perform at the world level. What we are implementing now, we are going to see the result in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“We will go to Tokyo Olympics with concrete preparation but we are going with the existing talent that we have,” he added. “2024 is four years away. But the actual potential of India will be showcased in 2028. That’s why I had made a big claim that, by 2028, India will be in the top ten of the medal tally. When I make this claim, it’s not rhetorical. I’ve made detailed preparation for that.”
Speaking about the Khelo India Youth Games, which will start in Guwahati on Friday, Rijiju said that the event was pivotal in creating a sporting culture as well as identifying talent. “Khelo India is, in a way, driving the sports culture in our country,” he said.
“We have started identifying talent from a very young age and we have started putting them in national camps. Till now, there were only senior camps. From this, we will have future Olympians and world champions in the TOP (Target Olympic Podium) scheme and we will provide them with stipends.”