NEW DELHI: In a first for a sporting talent identification event, the Union government has declared the Khelo India Games as an event of national importance.
The Khelo India Games, which was launched last year as Khelo India School Games, has now been expanded to encompass four multi-disciplinary national events. These include Khelo India Youth Games (formerly Khelo India School Games), Khelo India University Games, Khelo India Games for Differently-Abled Persons and Khelo lndia Games for Indigenous Sports; all of which have been identified as events of national importance.
With this, the host broadcaster of the Khelo India Youth Games, Star Sports, will now “mandatorily share the feed” of the tournament with public service broadcaster Doordarshan. The stated aim of the notification is to ensure that “youngsters even in the most remote areas of the country who may not have access to cable networks can watch the Games and be inspired to take up sports”.
In keeping with that aim, it is DD National, the flagship channel of Doordarshan, that will broadcast the Games and not DD Sports, as was the case last year, SportzPower has been informed.
Star Sports will telecast the Khelo India Youth Games, slated to start on January 10 in Guwahati, live for eight hours in Hindi and regional languages on each day of the competition as part of an agreement the broadcaster has with the Sports Authority of India.
“Our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has said that the Khelo India Games is not just an event, it is a movement. Promoting sports and fitness among the youth and sensitizing parents to motivate young athletes to pursue a sporting dream is a first step towards making India a sporting superpower. The Khelo India Games being declared events of national importance is a significant step towards achieving that goal. It is also a matter of great pride for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. I am confident that this move will inspire more youngsters to step up and pursue sports seriously,” said Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.
He added, “The young athletes of India will have a chance to showcase their talent to the entire country through the medium of national television.”
It bears noting that Star India has a five year agreement in place to showcase the Khelo India Games, wherein it has committed to spend Rs 500 million (Rs 100 million per year) overall on telecasting the event/s.
Last year, Star had devoted 100 hours of programming through a five-language broadcast across 14 screens and Hotstar to showcase the Games.
Around 6,800 athletes are expected to participate in the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games. The athletes will take part in a total of 20 sports with lawn ball and cycling being the new additions to the Khelo India Youth Games. The officials of the tournament have ensured that all the preparations for the competition have been carried out efficiently.
The opening ceremony of the third Khelo India Youth Games will take place at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on January 10.
