Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2020

• 01 Sep 2020

Why in News

Air Force Sports Control Board was conferred with ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2020’ for the outstanding contribution in helping sportspersons to excel in their respective disciplines and implement robust sports welfare measures.

Key Points

• Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar:
  
  • The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar scheme was introduced by the government in 2009 to encourage involvement of corporates and sports promotion boards in the development of sports in the country.
  • The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has revised the Scheme of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar in the year 2015.
  • According to the revised plan, this award is given in the following four categories:
    
    • Identification and nurturing of budding/young talent.
    • Encouragement of sports through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
    • Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures.
    • Sports for Development.
• Sports Development in Armed Forces:
  
  • Air Force Sports Control Board
    
    • Air Force Sports Control Board (AFSCB) is the apex body for the planning and conduct of sports activities within the Indian Air Force and at the Inter-Services level.
  • Army Sports Institute: Army Sports Institute, Pune was raised as part of the Indian Army’s “Mission Olympics” programme in 2001.
    
    • Aim: To train the vast reservoir of talent in the Army with an ultimate aim of winning medals at the Olympics in selected seven disciplines including Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Diving, Fencing, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
    • The institute draws its sportsmen from the Army as well as from young raw and proven talent in ‘Boys Sports Companies’ (8-14 years age).
    • In the last three years, the sportsmen trained at ASI have won 450 International and 1118 National medals.

Government Initiatives for Sports Development

• The Khelo India Scheme aims to encourage sports all over the country, thus allowing the population to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence, namely holistic development of children & youth, community development, social integration, gender equality, healthy lifestyle, national pride and economic opportunities related to sports development.
• The National Sports Development Fund helps sportspersons excel by providing them opportunities to train under coaches of international repute with technical, scientific and psychological support and giving them exposure to international competitions.
• The National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC) Scheme is being implemented to scout sports talent in the age group of 8-14 years from schools and nurture them into future medal hopes by providing scientific training.
• Sports Authority of India Training Centres Scheme (STC) - for Junior level trainees: The main objective was to make it possible for the Central Government and State Governments to work together for sports development efforts, through the integration of various Schemes.
  
  • The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports of Government of India for the development of sport in India.
• Special Area Games (SAG) Scheme: It aims at scouting natural talent for modern competitive sports and games from inaccessible tribal, rural and coastal areas of the country and nurturing them scientifically for achieving excellence in sports.

Source- PIB