1000 Khelo India Centres to be Started

On December 8, 2020, the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju, have announced that the government will be starting 1000 Khelo India centres across the country.

Highlights

• This announcement was made while addressing TURF 2020 which is the 10th Global Sports Summit organised by FICCI.
• Kiren Rijiju further added that the government has made policy changes and has  taken initiatives to encourage and support the sports community and sportsperson even after their retirement.
• The minister further acknowledge that, when a sportsperson suffers, it discourages their entire generation.
• Apart from that, the sports ministry is also ensuring that the financial support, and prize money reaches to the designated beneficiaries and athletes on time.

Purpose of the centres

These centres would help the retired sportspersons to get employment. It also seeks to encourage the sports culture in India.

What does the minister said?

The minister highlighted that, India has huge potential where sports is concerned. But this potential alone have no meaning if that potential is not utilized and channelized in the right direction by the suitable authorities. So, there is a need to make Indian citizens pro-sports and pro-fitness. Talk about the prosperous India with citizens being unfit is useless. He also urged the corporate houses, industry and business to come forward in helping the government in creating a society obsessed with sports.

Khelo India Movement

It is a national yojana or scheme that helps in developing the sports in India. The initiative was launched in 2018. The movement seeks to improve the sports culture in India. It has been aimed to mainstream the sports as a tool for individual development, community development, national development, economic development. It has been revamped by consolidating the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan’ ‘Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme’ and National Sports Talent Search System Programme’. The initiative promotes the “Sports for Excellence” and “Sports for All”.