In a landmark decision, Indian sports minister Anurag Thakur announced that medal winners in all Khelo India competitions will now be eligible for government jobs, signaling a significant stride in supporting India's athletes.
The Khelo India Games, initiated in 2018, serve as a crucial platform for fostering sporting talent at the grassroots level.
Get the latest sports betting odds here!
The Khelo India initiative aims to cultivate a thriving sporting culture nationwide, offering opportunities for young athletes to excel and gain recognition. With an emphasis on inclusivity, the revised eligibility criteria extend to medalists from diverse Khelo India events, including Youth, University, Para, and Winter Games.
Additionally, participants in the School Games Federation of India can also benefit from this policy, ensuring equitable opportunities for aspiring athletes across various disciplines.
What did Anurag Thakur say?
VIDEO | "There's a big announcement for sportspersons. In keeping view with the PM's vision of robust sports ecosystem, nurturing the talent at the grassroot level and turning sports into a lucrative and viable career option, Khelo India athletes will now be eligible for… pic.twitter.com/3Mpnuf0tbY
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 6, 2024
Tejaswin Shankar hits out at sports quota
Tejaswin Shankar, an Indian athlete who competes in high jump and decathlon event, does not believe that the move will help sportspersons and instead will hinder India from becoming a sporting superpower.
"Unpopular opinion: if we want to be a sporting superpower we can’t normalize giving out sports quota jobs to youth/ junior athletes. Needs to be criteria eg: 3 years of consistent medals at nationals or 5 years of being in top 8 nationally etc," he wrote on X.
"Khelo India is a wonderful opportunity to grow awareness, scout talent, develop interest, create a sporting ecosystem etc etc. ie: True grassroot development which is a welcome addition! Jobs don’t fit in this conversation IMHO.
"Real scope lies in finding synchrony between bodies organising school national, AIUni games, khelo India, Jr nationals, CBSE nationals, KVS nationals, u14-16 state level etc…This will help streamline talent by recognising each performance appropriately.
We have plenty opportunities and more are always welcome. Need to streamline them to make each count towards ultimate goal which is to have a broad pool of athletes who can potentially represent India in any event/ sport," he added.
Khelo India is a wonderful opportunity to grow awareness, scout talent, develop interest, create a sporting ecosystem etc etc. ie: True grassroot development which is a welcome addition! Jobs don’t fit in this conversation imho. (1/3) https://t.co/OYY3Ocs9nd
— Tejaswin Shankar (TJ) (@TejaswinShankar) March 6, 2024
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Sporting News has editorial oversight for this content. Learn more >