Smog plays spoilsport, PM’s Khelo India project postponed

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 14 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big sports pitch Khelo India has hit a weather roadblock. The Sports Ministry has been forced to postpone the much-awaited multi-sport event as the Capital, shrouded in toxic smog that’s ten times more than the normal, is gasping for breath. The Sports Ministry officials suspect the city will continue to reel under fog/smog in December as well — the multi-sport event was tentatively scheduled to be held in December.

Besides, the days are relatively shorter in the last month of the year. So, the officials feel, any loss of playing time due to adverse weather conditions will have a cascading effect on the event’s schedule. 

A note in this regard was put forward by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday and the Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore gave his nod to reschedule the event to a later date in January. The Prime Minister was supposed to inaugurate ‘Sports for All’ and ‘Sports for Excellence’ tentatively on December 21 and all 16 sports federations, whose disciplines were included in the programme, were told not to hold any event in the Capital as it would clash with government’s big push. Now, the event has been rescheduled to the last week of January. 

“Yes, we have postponed it due to weather conditions,” a source said. “We also anticipate trains getting delayed at that time due to fog. So it has been postponed to January end,” he added. Planned to be held in 16 disciplines, Khelo India was Modi’s big push to “raise the standard of competition, both at the school and college level”.

In September this year, the Union Cabinet had approved this revamped programme and approved Rs 1,756 crore for the year 2017-2020.  Three previous sports scheme — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) — were merged to shape Khelo India.  Archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, gymnastics, hockey, judo, kabaddi, kho-kho, shooting, swimming, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling competitions will be held across various venues in New Delhi during the event.

The scheme plans to give 1000 young athletes a scholarship of Rs five lakh each, and plans to reach 200 million children. Besides, there are plans to promote 20 universities across India as sports hubs to help talented athletes pursue their education and chase glory in competitive sports.