New Delhi [India], August 28 (ANI): India stands at a demographic benefit unmatched by most nations, with about 65% of its inhabitants beneath the age of 35, making it a rustic with the biggest youth inhabitants on the planet. Recognising the potential of this demographic dividend, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports goals to play an important position in youth improvement and sports activities promotion, aiming to steer the nation towards its aim of changing into a Viksit Bharat by 2047. It focuses on personality-building, ability enhancement, and fostering nationwide integration via numerous initiatives.
The National Sports Day (NSD) 2025 celebrations shall be led by the Fit India Mission and organised as a three-day, nation-wide sports activities and health motion from August 29 to 31 beneath the inspiring theme ‘Ek Ghanta, Khel ke Maidan Main’. The motion seeks to unfold consciousness in regards to the significance of dedicating at the very least 60 minutes every day to bodily exercise for stopping way of life illnesses.
The spirit of NSD 2025 additionally pays particular tribute to Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship, Respect and Paralympic values of Courage, Determination, Inspiration, and Equality. Eminent athletes and public representatives are additionally set to participate within the celebrations and have interaction with sports activities actions in all corners of the nation. Renowned sportspersons shall be stepping onto the playgrounds at State capitals in addition to throughout all districts on August 29.
-Major Dhyan Chand: Inspiring Generations of Youth via Sport
The significance of sports activities in India finds its enduring image in Major Dhyan Chand, whose start anniversary on August 29 is well known as National Sports Day. Widely thought to be one of many best hockey gamers, Dhyan Chand was identified for his distinctive ball management and goal-scoring skills, incomes him the titles ‘The Hockey Wizard’ and ‘The Magician’. Major Dhyan Chand represents the spirit of focus, humility, and nationwide satisfaction that continues to encourage generations of younger sportspersons.
-Key Sports Initiatives
The Government of India views sports activities as a core pillar of youth empowerment and nation-building. To advance this imaginative and prescient, the central authorities has made a file allocation of Rs. 3,794 crores to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for FY 2025-26. A significant portion, that’s Rs. 2,191 crores, has been allotted to Central Sector Schemes, the funds allocations to the ministry within the FY 2014-15 had been Rs 1643 crore, marking an increase of 130.9 per cent in 2025-26, as per a press launch from the Union Ministry of Sports.
-Sports Authority of India
Sports Authority of India (SAI) beneath the aegis of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has been entrusted with the dual targets of selling sports activities and reaching sporting excellence on the nationwide and worldwide degree.
Aims and Objectives:
*Talent Scouting at micro degree & Nurturing expertise in the direction of excellence*Training & International Exposure*Support Training with Scientific & Sports Equipment and scientific personnel*Monitor and improve Performance with a scientific analysis system*Training and preparation of National groups*Sports Infrastructure Development & Maintenance*Maintenance and upgradation of 4 stadia complexes and a taking pictures vary in Delhi*To produce coaches and bodily educationists of excessive calibre in several disciplines of sports activities to broaden the bottom sports activities*To implement numerous schemes of the MYAS e.g. Khelo India, Assistance to NSF, TOPS, FIT India[2]
-National Sports Governance Act, 2025
The National Sports Governance Act, 2025, enacted on August 18, 2025, represents a landmark reform in Indian sports activities administration. The Act was launched to ascertain a unified framework that ensures transparency, accountability, ethics, and athlete welfare in keeping with the Olympic Charter, Paralympic Charter, and international finest practices.
The act, locations robust emphasis on athlete safety. For the primary time, sports activities our bodies are required to undertake a Safe Sports Policy safeguarding girls, minor athletes and different susceptible individuals, alongside a Code of Ethics aligned with worldwide norms. Additionally, each National Sports Body shall set up an inside grievance redressal mechanism to handle the grievances raised by athletes, coaches and different people related to such physique, in a good, well timed and clear method.
The Act additionally introduces structural reforms in governance. It fixes age and tenure limits for workplace bearers, with conditional rest (70-75 years if permitted by worldwide federation statutes), guaranteeing generational renewal in management. Further, in circumstances of governance crises, it permits the appointment of skilled Sports Administrators rather than retired judges beforehand appointed by courts.
-Khelo Bharat Niti 2025
Launched in July 2025, Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 marks a paradigm shift in India’s sports activities ecosystem. Building on the inspiration laid by programmes like Khelo India, the coverage goals to rework sports activities right into a nationwide motion and a viable profession path, aligned with the targets of Viksit Bharat and the aspiration to host the 2036 Olympics.
The coverage integrates sports activities with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, strengthens infrastructure at grassroots and elite ranges, and institutionalises early expertise identification via programmes like KIRTI.
Khelo Bharat Niti is greater than a policy–it is a nationwide dedication to nurturing expertise, inspiring participation, and positioning India as a number one sporting nation.
Khelo Bharat Niti is greater than a policy–it is a nationwide dedication to nurturing expertise, inspiring participation, and positioning India as a number one sporting nation.
-Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports
Launched in FY 2016-17, the Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports goals to advertise mass participation and sporting excellence in each rural and concrete areas. The scheme, carried ahead strongly by the federal government, obtained an extension for 5 years in 2021 with an outlay of three,790.50 crore, reinforcing Prime Minister Modi’s imaginative and prescient of nurturing a sporting tradition throughout the nation. Key achievements embrace:
*Approval of 328 new sports activities infrastructure initiatives price 3,151.02 crore.*Establishment of 1,045 Khelo India Centres (KICs) for grassroots coaching and assist.*Notification of 34 Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs) and accreditation of 306 academies.
Support for two,845 Khelo India Athletes (KIAs) with teaching, tools, medical care, and a month-to-month out-of-pocket allowance of Rs 10,000.
-KIRTI (Khelo India Rising Talent Identification)
KIRTI is a nationwide initiative to establish and nurture sporting expertise amongst kids aged 9 to 18. The program makes use of Talent Assessment Centres (TACs) throughout the nation, standardised protocols, and superior IT instruments (together with AI and knowledge analytics) for clear, merit-based choice. There are 174 TACs within the nation as of current. This initiative displays the imaginative and prescient of constructing a robust pipeline of younger athletes who can take India to better heights in international sports activities.
KIRTI goals to create a sustainable pipeline of athletes to assist India change into a top-10 sporting nation by 2036 and top-5 by 2047.
-Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)
The authorities has strengthened assist for India’s high athletes of their preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Selected athletes are supported with funding from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) for customised coaching and different assist not obtainable beneath regular schemes of the Ministry. Out of pocket allowance (OPA) is paid at Rs. 50,000/- monthly to Core group athletes. Further, a Development Group was added to assist junior athletes with a stipend of Rs. 25,000/- monthly. TOPS contributed to India’s medal-winning success within the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, showcasing the federal government’s dedication to creating India a world sporting powerhouse.
As of August 2024, 174 particular person athletes & 2 hockey groups (Men & Women) as a core group have been chosen beneath the scheme.
-FIT India Movement
Fit India Movement was launched with a view to make health an integral a part of our every day lives. The mission of the motion is to result in behavioural adjustments and transfer in the direction of a extra bodily lively way of life, reflecting Prime Minister Modi’s name for a Jan Andolan (folks’s motion) for health.
The motion has achieved a number of key milestones, together with a particular on-line sequence titled, ‘Fit India- Healthy Hindustan’ Programme, by eminent health consultants and Fit India icons, was launched in 2023.
Fit India Family Sessions had been additionally performed with consultants with the target of inculcating health routine amongst households.
-Assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs)
This scheme allows National Sports Federations to strengthen the ecosystem of aggressive sports activities in India. Support consists of the organisation of nationwide championships, internet hosting worldwide occasions, facilitating Indian athletes’ participation overseas, establishing teaching camps, hiring international coaches, and procuring superior tools. It goals to supply athletes with structured, skilled publicity and coaching aligned with worldwide requirements.
-National Sports University
‘The National Sports Universities being established within the nation and the brand new National Education Policy, which has made sports activities part of mainstream training, are each geared toward producing not solely excellent athletes but additionally top-tier sports activities professionals in Bharat.’ – Prime Minister Narendra Modi
With a transformative imaginative and prescient for sports activities in India, the Government has prioritised Sports training to foster a sturdy sports activities ecosystem, elevating athletics from a pastime to an expert profession. The National Sports University, established in 2018 in Imphal, Manipur, is a devoted establishment for sports activities training in sciences, expertise, administration, and training, doubling as a nationwide coaching hub for choose disciplines by adopting international finest practices via MoUs with universities like Canberra and Victoria. This establishment focuses on advancing bodily training, sports activities sciences, and elite coaching, aligning with nationwide targets to nurture international expertise.
-National Sports Awards
Conferred yearly by the President of India on National Sports Day (August 29), these awards honour athletes, coaches, and establishments which have considerably contributed to Indian sports activities. The key awards embrace:
-Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons
This scheme ensures monetary safety for retired athletes who’ve earned laurels for the nation at worldwide occasions. Eligible sportspersons, on reaching the age of 30 and post-retirement, obtain a lifelong month-to-month pension ranging between Rs 12,000 and Rs 20,000. This assist sustains their well-being past their aggressive years.
-Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Programme for Sportspersons
This welfare programme gives monetary assistance–up to Rs 10 lakh–to distinguished former athletes who face monetary or medical hardship. The help covers prices corresponding to medical therapy, buy of sports activities tools, and participation in sporting occasions. It ensures continued dignity and assist for individuals who as soon as introduced honour to the nation.
-National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
The National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) mobilises monetary contributions from the personal sector, NRIs, and philanthropic organisations. These funds complement public funding and are used to develop infrastructure, assist high-potential athletes, and fund progressive programmes, making a collaborative mannequin for sports activities improvement.
-National Centre of Sports Sciences and Research (NCSSR)
Launched in 2017, the National Centre of Sports Sciences and Research (NCSSR) is a specialised initiative to strengthen scientific assist for Indian athletes. With a funds of Rs 260 crore till 2025-26, it consists of the central NCSSR hub and helps six university-based Sports Science Departments and 5 Sports Medicine Departments in medical establishments. The scheme promotes superior analysis, damage prevention, rehabilitation, and efficiency enhancement via sports activities science and drugs.
India’s Olympic journey witnessed a exceptional transformation between 2016 and 2024, marking a brand new period of athletic excellence. From a modest haul of two medals in Rio 2016 by a 117-member contingent, India surged forward to assert 7 medals at Tokyo 2020 and maintained a robust exhibiting with six medals at Paris 2024, each with contingents of 124-117 athletes. Notable performers on this interval embrace Neeraj Chopra, India’s first Olympic gold medalist (Tokyo 2020) in athletics (javelin), and Mirabai Chanu, a constant medalist in weightlifting.
-Conclusion
From elevated participation to international podium finishes, India’s sports activities journey has been transformational. With reforms just like the National Sports Governance Act 2025 and Khelo Bharat Niti 2025, India is constructing a sturdy ecosystem that transforms athletic potential into nationwide and worldwide achievement.
Through athlete-centric governance, scientific coaching assist, and clear accountability mechanisms, the nation is nurturing a technology that can drive each sporting excellence and nationwide progress towards the Olympic Games of 2036 and the Viksit Bharat 2047 imaginative and prescient. (ANI)