Khelo India Programme

Khelo India Programme is a national yojana/scheme for the development of sports in India. It was launched in the year 2018 by the then Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Delhi. This program has been launched to improve the sports culture in India.

Aimed at mainstreaming sports as a tool for national development, economic development, community development and individual development, the Union Cabinet approved the execution of the revamped ‘Khelo India’ program by consolidating the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan’ (formerly called the ‘Yuva Krida & Khel Abhiyan’), the ‘Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme’ and the National Sports Talent Search System Programme’. The program strives to promote “Sports for Excellence” as well as “Sports for All”.

Kehlo India Programme Latest Updates- 

1. The Union budget reduced the allocation for sports by ₹230.78 crores for the financial year 2021-22. The ‘Khelo India’ scheme has taken a hit of ₹232.71 crores, with its allocation slashed to ₹657.71 from ₹890.42 crore.
2. Khelo India Youth Games 2021 are scheduled to take place in Panchkula (Haryana) after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (which is set to open on July 23rd). The government has announced that Haryana will host the 4th edition of Kehlo India Youth Games.

All government exam aspirants must stay updated with the latest current affairs of national and international importance for the upcoming examinations.

Khelo Indian Programme is an important topic for IAS Exam and other government exams.

Aspirants of the upcoming UPSC examination can go through the following links to prepare for the exam even better-

To know more about other government schemes, refer to the linked article.

Khelo India Programme

Event Information

Khelo India Categories:

The different categories under the Khelo India program are given below:

• Playfield Development
• Support to National/ Regional/ State/ Sports Academics
• Community Coaching Development
• State Level Khelo India Centers
• Physical education of school children
• Sports for women
• Annual Sports Competition
• Promotion of sports amongst people with disabilities
• Talent search and development
• Sports for Peace and Development
• Utilization and Creation/ Upgradation of Sports Infrastructure
• Promotion of rural and indigenous/ tribal games

Aspirants must focus on the minor details of such government policies, as objective type questions can be asked in the UPSC prelims examination. The upgrades and budget allocation under these schemes are an important part of the syllabus.

Eligibility for Khelo India Programme

The eligibility criteria for the Khelo India program is given below:

• Candidates below the age of 17 can participate in the under-17 category.
• Candidates below the age of 21 can participate in the under-21 category.

Background of Khelo India Scheme

• The Youth represent the most dynamic and vibrant segment of the population.
• India is one of the youngest nations in the World, with about 65% of its population being under 35 years of age.
• The youth in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.5% of the population.
• To promote mass participation in sports and achieve effective implementation, the existing schemes of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) were proposed to be dovetailed into a single scheme to be named as “Khelo India: National Programme for Development of Sports”.

Objectives of Khelo India

• It will be a Central Sector Scheme (Scheme implemented by the Central Government machinery and 100% funding by the Union Government).
• It is a Pan India Sports Scholarship scheme covering the 1000 most deserving and talented athletes across the sports discipline, every year.
• Selected athletes will be entitled to a scholarship amount of Five Lakh Rupees for eight consecutive years.
• It is an unprecedented scheme, a first-ever plan to be implemented for creating a long-term development pathway for athletes.
• To enable the sportsman to pursue both studies and sports, the program aims at identifying and promoting 20 Universities in the country as centres of sporting distinction.
• For sports promotion, the latest user-friendly technology would be used. Ex: Geographic Information System (GIS) for locating the sports infrastructure, a user-friendly website for indigenous sports, a National Sports Talent Search Portal and information dissemination for sports training through mobile apps.
• To ensure maximum entries for organized sports competitions, the programme encourages the school and colleges to organize programmes of high standards.
• Forming an active population with a healthy lifestyle is also the focus of this programme. For this purpose, a National Physical Fitness Drive is planned where children falling in the age bracket 10-18 years will be checked for physical fitness. Further, activities to support their physical fitness will be planned.
• The aim is to impact the whole of the sports ecosystem inclusive of the sports economy, competition structure, talent identification, coaching and infrastructure.
• The programme plans to engage youth living in deprived and disturbed areas into sporting activities so that they will be mainstreamed into the process of nation-building and weaned away from disruptive activities.

The objective with which the programme has been launched, emphasizes the importance of sports and related infrastructure in the country. Candidates can expect IAS questions based on its significance to boost the social and economic prospects of the country.

Impact of Khelo India Scheme

• A comprehensive mechanism was created through Khelo India to build a sporting culture by identifying and developing talent by providing annual competitive platforms, infrastructure across the country.
• Through the annual Khelo India Youth Games and University Games, athletes of age groups of U17 and U21 have got a chance to showcase their sporting talent annually, at the national level.
• The Khelo India MobileApp launched by Hon’ble PM in 2019 has assessed the fitness parameters of more than 23 lakh school children, thus identifying future sporting talent from the age of 5 years.
• Special scheme to promote indigenous games and athletes. Athletes of indigenous games are given Out-of-Pocket Allowance (OPA), training facilities in top-end centres.
• Specific schemes were put in place to empower women to make a mark in sports, as well as strengthened support to divyangs in the form of financial grants, better training facilities.

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