Khelo India
What is Khelo India?
The Khelo India programme was introduced by the Government of India to revive the sports culture in the nation at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all types of sports played in the country and establish India as a great sporting nation.
The Khelo India programme is divided into 12 verticals:
•Play Field Development
•Community Coaching Development
•State Level Khelo India Centres
•Annual Sports Competition
•Talent Search and Development
•Utilization and Creation/ Upgradation of Sports Infrastructure
•Support for national/Regional/State Sport Academics
•Physical fitness of school children
•Sports for Women
•Promotion of Sports among people with disabilities
•Sports for Peace and Development
•Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games
There are various programmes under the Khelo India initiative, such as the Khelo India Youth Games or the KIYG which promote the cause of physical health and fitness and bring to the limelight indigenous games and give the players the much-needed recognition required to pursue their careers. The purpose of these games is grassroots level talent hunting.
The Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG), formerly known as the Khelo India School Games (KISG) are held annually in January or February. They constitute national level multidisciplinary grassroots games in India held for two different categories- under-17 years school students and under-21 college students. The best 1000 players are given an annual scholarship of INR 5,00,000 for a period of eight years to prepare for the international sporting events.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31st January 2018 inaugurated the Khelo India School Games at the opening ceremony based on Guru–shishya tradition at the Indira Gandhi Arena. The second edition of the event was inaugurated in Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune by Sports Minister, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. On 27th February 2019, Narendra Modi launched the Khelo India App at the Youth Indian Parliament in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi to promote sports and fitness.
Only selected participants below the age of 17 years are eligible to compete in the games. In the individual sports, top 8 sportspeople from the School Games Federation of India's National School Games, 4 nominations from the federation, one from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), one from the host State and 2 wild card entries are selected. In team sports, the top 4 from the National School Games, 2 nominations by the federation, 1 from the host State and one from the organising committee are selected. For the sports of archery, badminton and shooting, the top 16 from the National School Games, 8 nominations from the federation, 1 from the CBSE, 1 from the host State, 1 from the organising committee, and 6 from wild cards are selected.
2018 Games
The inaugural games in 2018 had students competing for 209 gold medals across 16 different sports. Badminton, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, judo, volleyball, kabaddi and wrestling were held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium Complex.
Athletics, football, weightlifting and kho kho were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Swimming competitions were held at at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex, hockey at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium and shooting at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Haryana won the most number of gold medals (38) followed by Maharashtra (36) and Delhi (25).
2019 Games
Maharashtra won the most number of gold medals (85) followed by Haryana (62) and Delhi (48).
Source: https://khabar.ndtv.com/news/sports/khelo-india-school-games-haryana-got-top-position-with-38-gold-medals-while-maharashtra-grabbed-the-1810404