Delhi smog engulfs 'Khelo India'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet sports project "Khelo India" has become the latest victim of the smog engulfing the Capital.

The smog has forced the sports ministry to postpone the School Games, scheduled to be held from December 21 to 29, by over a month to protect the children from extreme pollution.

The new dates are yet to be announced but it has been learnt that if conditions improve in and around Delhi then the School Games could be organised next year in January 31 to February 8 window.

Sports minister and former Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was keen to ensure a grand conduct of the PM's pet project. Rathore has now accepted a suggestion by the Sports Authority of India's (SAI) and decided to postpone the Games citing smog and foggy conditions of Delhi and surrounding areas.

"We can't really take any chance with the school kids due to the prevailing pollution and fog in Delhi," a senior ministry official told DNA.

Based on the 'Gujarat school sports model', Khelo India was allocated a fund of Rs 1,756 crore in the last Union budget.

The NDA-ruled government had earlier merged the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and the National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) in order to form "Khelo India" and the money made available was for a four-year period from 2017 to 2020.

The Khelo India school games are scheduled to take place in five different venues in Delhi. The players from around the states of India would vie for honours in 16 different disciplines. And the opening ceremony at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium is expected to be attended by Modi.

It has also been learnt that national broadcaster Prasar Bharti has been given already given charge of streaming the live coverage of the Games.

"We are hoping that by January last conditions in Delhi would be much better than what we are experiencing now. The new dates would only be announced in due course after examining it," the official added.

While making a huge allocation in the Union budget, the main reason behind Khelo India was to identify at least 1000 talented youngsters from across the country and then give them a financial support of Rs 5 lakh each per year, for eight consecutive years.

It was also stressed that 20 universities across India would be nominated as hubs of sporting excellence in order to help the students pursue both education and competitive sports simultaneously.

The postponement of Khelo India is now certainly going to affect the conduct of Under-21 College Games which was proposed to be held in the month of January in Delhi only. The new dates are subject to ministry's clearance.