With everything said and done, can Khelo India be termed as a success?

As is evident from history, at the core of most failed initiatives taken in India lies one reason - noble intentions followed by terrible executions. The Sports Ministry’s recent master plan ‘Khelo India School Games’, which was launched with an aim to bridge the sports at school level with the international level, was hardly any different.

Even, to begin with, the schedule was a huge problem. Khelo India School Games (KISG) were rescheduled owing to Delhi’s pollution in the months of November and December, which came to light mostly during Sri Lanka cricket team’s tour of India. Consequently, it was postponed to February that was close to the school board exams, which saw lesser participation than expected right from the beginning. 

Similar instances happened in the other categories of boys’ and girls’ wrestling as well, which saw as less as 8-12 participants in total. The low turnout led KISG and WFI to sling mud at each other as the tournament was in progress. When asked Pradhan about it, he stated that both WFI and the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) stated that those were new weight categories just introduced by the international federation, and it was difficult to send participants from those categories immediately.

Inconsistency regarding the selection of athletes for grooming and scholarship created a huge inconvenience everywhere. As per the rules, 50% of the players picked from the game would go to SGFI while the rest would be divided between the NSF and the wildcard entries. The general secretary of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), Rajeev Bhatia, stated that the NRAI themselves had to choose the remaining wildcards. In boxing, same names were seen on both the SGFI and NSF that led to empty spots. 

However, KISG also managed to achieve some credibility in these nine days as it proved to be the perfect platform for the athletes from humble backgrounds to showcase their mettle. 15-year-old Bhaktaram Desti from Ganjam district of Odisha, who won the gold in the weightlifting competition, is the son of farmers and has spent most of his life away from the luxury of facilities to improve his trade.

“There are very few opportunities for people coming from that part of the country. But he manages to balance his studies and training because the sports hostel and the government school where he studies are close by,” said Desti’s coach Sita Jena, reported PTI.

The 3507 participants that took part in the ambitious event had many such examples. KISG had also assigned a talent-hunt committee to each and every event whose job was to look for two best sportspersons, who would be entitled to a Rs 5-lakh annual scholarship for eight years. This definitely comes as a huge boost for the athletes’ career, in both sport and education. Moreover, it will draw more participants for the next Khelo India editions as youngsters will choose sports over other things.

The wide range of the broadcasting of the event has also added quite a glamour to the event, which for so long had only been limited to the two-camera projection of Doordarshan. This has also played a huge motivator for athletes who were excited to prove their mettle.

The next Khelo India event is expected to be the College Games, where the Sports Minister has claimed to inculcate athletes who didn’t get a chance to participate this time. After a semi-success of the opening event, we would only hope that things go more organized and smooth next.