During his Independence Day speech at Red Fort in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the importance of sports in development and expressed joy over parents of this generation who encourage their children to take up a sport.
In his address, the Prime Minister said, “Sports also hold importance for development, and I am glad that today, if children take interest in sports, parents are filled with pride. I consider this a very auspicious sign for the future of the country.”
He further highlighted the efforts of the central government to give sports a push, particularly the Khelo India policy, under which several multi-sport competitions are held at many levels and categories, such as the Khelo India Youth Games, Khelo India University Games, Khelo India Winter Games, Khelo India Para Games and the inaugural Khelo India Beach Games, which took place this year.
These competitions have helped in development and identification of talent that could represent India at Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, etc, for years to come. The policy has also led to a chain of world-class sporting facilities developed across India, called the Khelo India Centres of Excellence.
“To promote sports, we have introduced the Khelo India policy in the country after many decades. So that efforts can be made for the all-round development of the sports world. From school to the Olympics, we want to develop a complete ecosystem,” PM Modi added.
India aspires to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, marking a huge step in their rise as a sporting superpower. Under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) launched in 2014, several young, promising talents and veterans alike have been provided with the best services, equipment and money to help them win a medal in the Olympics.
This led to India’s best medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, with seven medals (one gold, two silver and four bronze medals). In the Paris 2024 Olympics, India won six medals, including a silver and five bronze medals.
A massive difference was also visible in India’s Paralympic performances. The Paralympic revolution began in Tokyo with 19 medals, including five gold. The Indian contingent, motivated by this performance, took their performances several notches above in Paris with a record-breaking 29 medals, including seven golds, nine silvers and 13 bronze medals.
In the Asian Games Hangzhou (2022) and Para Asian Games (2022), Team India breached the 100-medal mark for the first time, with 106 medals (28 gold, 38 silver and 40 bronze) and 109 medals (28 gold medals, 32 silver medals and 49 bronze) respectively.
Indian government’s efforts to boost sports culture have also produced landmarks such as Team India’s maiden Thomas Cup win over 14-time champions Indonesia by 3-0 back in 2022, Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal at World Athletics Championships in 2023 in Budapest, among many other milestones.
Meanwhile, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha recently expressed her delight at the approval for India’s bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games during its Special General Meeting (SGM) on Wednesday.
There are various speculations about the host city, and Ahmedabad has emerged as the frontrunner. However, Usha confirmed that they have yet to decide on that, considering there are many cities with the facilities, including Bhubaneswar.
“The meeting has gone well. We have unanimously made the Commonwealth 2030 bid proposal. When you work together, you get the best results. I am so happy today. We have a lot of facilities in Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar; we are yet to decide that, and that will be coming very soon,” Usha said.
After the meeting concluded, an IOA source revealed that “Ahmedabad is likely going to be the city to host the Commonwealth Games 2030”. Proposals are expected to be submitted by August 31, and Commonwealth Sport is likely to decide on the host city in November.
Notably, in June, a senior state delegation led by Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of Sports, Government of Gujarat, met officials from Commonwealth Sport as part of efforts to understand the bid framework for the 2030 Games.
(ANI)