Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the first Khelo India School Games. The grand inauguration will take place at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The event will be a week long with Under 17 athletes participating in 16 different disciplines.
The games picked for the event are Weightlifting, Badminton, Basketball, Swimming, Football, Shooting, Wrestling, Archery, Athletics, Volleyball, Hockey, Gymnastics, Boxing, Kho-Kho, Judo and Kabaddi.
These athletes will be competing for a total of 199 gold, 199 silver and 275 bronze medals. The most talented players will be given an annual financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakhs per annum for eight years from a high powered committee.
The Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Rathore said, “Sports are for learning value of life. It is just not the books that teach you about life but also sports. We are trying to strengthen that culture.”
Speaking about the Khelo India initiative the Sports Minister said, “There are 12 verticals in `Khelo India`, one of which is Khelo India school games and Khelo India college games to create a platform at the highest level for Under 17 and Under 21. We will provide them the same quality and infrastructure to make them feel as if they are playing in the Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games.”
He further added, “We are focusing on women-oriented sports. So we will encourage women to participate in sports. You teach one generation you would have taught four generations.”
“We are focusing on women-oriented sports. So we will encourage women to participate in sports. You teach one generation you would have taught four generations,” Rathore had added.
Prime Minister Modi explained this program was to revive the sports culture in India. He further stated they plan to build a strong framework for every sport that is played in the Country and make India a great sporting Nation.
