ASMITA WOMEN’S LEAGUES received a significant boost on Tuesday as Raksha Khadse, Minister of State for Sports, launched the program’s official social media channels and felicitated members of India’s bronze-winning Asian U-20 women’s rugby team.
ASMITA (Achieving Sports Milestones by Inspiring Women Through Action) operates under Khelo India’s gender-neutral sporting framework and has already marked several notable achievements. Since its launch, 1,886 ASMITA leagues have been conducted in collaboration with National Sports Federations and state sports authorities.
More than 2.14 lakh women have participated across 32 sports, reaching over 500 districts and 600 cities, including remote regions of Arunachal Pradesh, tribal communities and border areas.
Also in attendance was Olympian shooter Manu Bhaker, a double medallist at the Paris 2024 Games, who commended the scale and influence of the ASMITA initiative.
Khadse emphasised the need for ASMITA to establish a distinct identity. “This shows the government’s intention to bring young women to the limelight. Through social media, we can penetrate even further and raise awareness for women wanting to play a sport,” said Khadse.
She added that developing opportunities at the grassroots remains a priority, “We want to create more opportunities for women and tap from the grassroots level. The ministry has a proper structure to groom talent and our women need the attention they deserve. We also have to look at all sports and ensure that people can make careers. Look at cricket, they introduced equal pay for men and women. We have to try and apply the same formula to all sports.”
Bhaker added, “We women are demonstrating what we are capable of. In the last two Olympics, women athletes have done incredibly well and if we have to do well in the 2036 Olympics, programs like ASMITA and Khelo India are the way to go. More importantly, these leagues are changing mindsets, especially in rural India where women don’t come to sport naturally. We should do everything to cheer for our girls because they can do equally well like the men.”
