In what comes as a pleasant and inspiring surprise for the Indian sporting fraternity, the Government and the Sports Minstry have come up with a structured long-term plan in order to streamline sports education and training in the country.
Ever since Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (the 2004 Athens Game Silver medalist) has taken over the reigns of the Sports Ministry, there is a positive vibe around the entire sporting scene in India.
For a long time now people have been calling for a sportsperson to head the Sports Ministry and with the government finally obliging, it seems like the ‘Acche Din’ for sports are just round the corner.
In his first real big step for the sporting fraternity, Rathore has revamped the entire Khelo India-National Programmer for Development of Sports’ scheme, making it more robust, systematic and effective.
Rathore wants ‘Sports for all’ and ‘Sports for excellence’ to be the two pillars of the Khelo India program.
Every athlete selected under the scheme will be given an annual sponsorship of 5 lakhs for 8 years.
Creating a ‘fitter’ India is also one of the major aims of this scheme and thus all schools will have a fitness drive, inculcating a healthy lifestyle amongst children in the age group of 10-18.
20 Universities are also being set up and honed in order to promote sporting excellence.
It’s a very structured system that Rathore and co. have come up with it. First they try and inculcate the idea of sport and fitness amongst children, then take the best ones out of the mass and help them train in order to become sporting stalwarts.
Rs 1756 Crore has been allocated for this project and hopefully the influx of money, a strategy and a hard working Sports ministry can lay a strong foundation for sports in our country.
