Discuss the steps taken by the government to make India into a sports superpower. (200 words)
Refer – Hindustan times
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
· India is a country of 1.3 billion, which will be the youngest country in the world by 2020.
· To effectively use such a potential, India should create an ecosystem that nurtures sporting talent right from the early years, right through their careers.
Steps taken
· Khelo India Scheme – It aims to revive sports culture in India at the grass-root level.
· It identifies sporting talent at as young as eight years old and train them for the future.
· Each potential candidate will be provided annual financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh for 8 years
· Khelo India School Games (KISG) – It is the national level multidisciplinary grassroot games in India held annually for the under-17 year school kids.
· It is for the first time that school games have been organised at such a massive scale, thus giving school children a chance to compete and win at the national level.
· Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) – Its objective is to identify and support potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
· They will be provided customized training at institutes which will have world class facilities and other necessary support to improve performance and higher position in medals tally for the country.
· As an incentive, TOPS athletes are also being given an out of pocket allowance of Rs 50,000 per month, which is over and above all the training, coaching, training, travel expenses that is borne by the government.
· Mission Olympics 2024 – NITI Aayog has also devised a short-term and medium-to-long term action plan to help India achieve 50 medals in 2024 summer Olympics.
· Sports university – India has also committed itself to set up the country’s first national sports university in Imphal, Manipur.
· It will be the first-of-its-kind to promote sports education in the areas of sports sciences, sports technology, sports management and sports coaching.
· In the past one year, India has also created several national academies where young athletes are training under foreign coaches.
· Attracting best teachers – India has also increased the remuneration of top Indian coaches from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh a month just so that we can attract better teachers.
· To attract the best international talent, India has not kept a cap on remuneration for foreign coaches.
