MP all set to host Khelo India Youth Games

ost the 5th edition of the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYGs), which will begin on January 30. The events will be held in eight cities of the state and one tournament will also be conducted in Delhi.

According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the KIYGs-2022 virtually or physically, which will be held at the Tatya Tope Stadium in Bhopal on January 30 at 7 pm, as MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has requested the PM to attend the opening ceremony. Union Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Anurag Thakur will be the special guest at the inaugural programme in which around 21000 people will participate.

The national-level event will continue till February 11, during the sports programmes, more than 6000 players will participate in the games from 36 states and Union Territories of the country.

CM Chouhan has said that the KIYGs would help to promote the sports culture in the state, and students from all the districts would also be connected with the events to be held in eight cities of the state.

Chouhan also thanked PM Modi for organising the KIYGs in Madhya Prade He announced that the players who win the medals would be directly given the post of Deputy collector and Dy SP and International and Olympic winners would be given Rs 5 Lakhs for their further training.

He had asserted that the state government would be left no stone unturned for the development of sports while addressing the mascot, torch, and anthem unveiling ceremony of the KIYGs on January 7. The torch has been named after ‘Amarkantak’, -the origin of the holy river Narmada.

Cheetah, Asha and Mogali are made the mascots of the KIYGs-2022, the mascots are visiting all the districts to promote the events. Eight Cheetahs were translocated from South Africa to MP’s Kuno National Park. They were left at the park on September 17 last year by PM Modi on his birthday. Cheetah was declared extinct in the country in 1952.

According to sources of the MP Sports and Youth Department, the Preparations for the events are almost set to organise the games in all the cities. The games will be held in Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Delhi.

For the first, fencing, kayaking, canoeing, canoe slalom and rowing games will be played during the event. A total of 27 kinds of sports will be played in the tournament.

The theme song of the KIYGs is ‘Hindustan Ka Dil Dhadka Do..’, as MP is situated in the middle of the country. Various kinds of events are being organised by the state government in all the districts at schools, colleges and public places to promote the KIYGs.

The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establishing India as a great nation.