Khelo India will help in building nation: Rajyavardhan Rathore

New Delhi [India], September 26 (ANI): Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Tuesday shared his vision about the future of sports in the country under the "Khelo India" initiative.

The newly elected Sports Minister described sports as not just being about play and playing, but also about acquiring "education of life".

"There is no other place where you learn lessons of life other than the sport field in very short time, there is no other place where you pass the ball to somebody else to score a goal and share the glory," he said.

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop on "Sports for All" here, Rathore highlighted the roadmap to be adopted under Khelo India initiative and asked for a more pragmatic approach to be adopted when it comes to sports.

He said, "Khelo India states that it is not just about building stadiums, it is about building a nation."

The Olympics silver medalist further emphasised, "There will be zero tolerance in terms of mis-governance in sports. The federations have to think beyond their terms. There are no territorial boundaries here. There is going to be massive amount of transparency."

Every information will be open and accessible to the entire country under the Khelo India, he informed.

Talking about the revamped initiative, Rathore added that the initiative has the flexibility of reaching out to the private sectors.

Aiming at corporates to contribute to the initiative, he said, "We are looking for some of the best CEOs in India who can come on and take the responsibility of managing our athletes. We will tie up all the federations with these CEOs so that there is excellence at the elite level and broad basing of sports at the grass-root level."

Citing the examples of rural India and calling its sports culture a successful model, Rathore called for building low-cost sport arenas and use them as nurseries to nurture sports.

Urging the people to think out of box, he said, "There are no boundaries in term of what we can do, it is all up to our imagination and our ability to create a new model.

He also brought the importance of trained coaches and emphasised on the need of imparting training to them on a regular basis coaches.

"Ministry of sports is working on a coaching programme and my belief is that shortly we will have a bank of coaches, where we will keep certifying the coaches," he said.

He also said, "Under Khelo India project we are developing an IT structure where athletes training in big stadiums and the coaches as well will be monitored 365 days and a check on their performance will be kept."

Rathore also highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheme of National Talent Search where every year 1, 0000 athletes will be provided with 5 lakh rupees for eight years, so that parents are not forced to search for sponsorship.

Stressing on the importance of sports at school level and importance of recognising the talent, he said, "This year from December 2017, we will organize the highest level of school events in this country and we will select one thousand athletes from here who will get funded."

He further said that best Under-17 will be playing in these games, who will later be promoted and encouraged in the Khelo India College games 2018.

The 'Khelo India' programme, which was launched by former Sports Minister Vijay Goel was recently revamped by his successor Rathore.

The government of India has approved Rs 1756 crore for a period of three years for the revamping of 'Khelo India'. (ANI)