Sports Minister Anurag Thakur reveals govt's plan to exclusively start Khelo India women's leagues for various sports

The Member of Parliament took to social media to also showcase the recent achievements of women in the field of sports.

Anurag Thakur is the current Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports in addition to the Minister of Information & Broadcasting in the Narender Modi government. He is a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. The politician took to Twitter to address the public and share a heartwarming message for women athletes on International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 8 March 2023.

In a series of tweets, Anurag Thakur talked about ‘sportswomen becoming cover page of Indian sports under leadership of PM Narendra Modi’. He also cited several examples of women athletes who have achieved greatness in their respective sporting fields and brought pride to India on the global stage.

“The 1st & foremost priority was to draw a long-lasting programme to ensure inclusive socio-economic growth for all sections of society, especially girls and women,” he posted on the social media platform. 

He continued and took the example of legendary sprinter P.T. Usha to highlight how India is working towards women's empowerment through sports. “Legendary athlete P.T. Usha becoming the first woman chief of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is yet another step towards empowering women in sports,” he tweeted.

Role of Khelo India

Pointing towards Khelo India’s contribution towards women empowerment in sports, Thakur tweeted, “Khelo India- a flagship central sector scheme launched by the government to create an environment for sports activities, change the mindset and accordingly pull down social barriers that prevent or discourage participation of girls in sports.”

“The Youth Affairs & Sports ministry decided to exclusively conduct the Khelo India women's leagues across 9 disciplines — hockey, archery, weightlifting, cycling, boxing, swimming, wrestling, volleyball and judo to ensure participation of 23,000 women athletes. Khelo India threw open a vista of new India that required little support and training to display its talent. Out of the total budget allocation of ₹ 3397.32 cr for FY2023-24 for sports, Khelo India accounts for more than 1/3rd i.e, ₹1000 crores, an increase of ₹400 cr.” he further added.

Other Examples

Anurag Thakur cited a few more examples to make the point of how under the Modi regime, women are charting a new road for themselves. He tweeted, “Young Golf Talent Aditi Ashok won the 2023 Magical Kenya Ladies Open Title and Arjuna Awardee Bhavani Devi made history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal at the senior Commonwealth Fencing Championship in Canberra. Women Hockey narrowly missed a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In the last year's Haryana's Khelo India Youth Games, 12 National records were broken, out of which 11 records were broken by the daughters of India.”

He concluded by adding, “In the coming years, Indian sports is set to write the great saga of its success with sportswomen as the cover face. Happy Women’s Day to all the women working wonders, breaking barriers, and driving dreams, for you the sky is the limit.”