UP Launches 'One District One Sport' Scheme, Aims To Nurture Young Sports Talent And Give Them Opportunities
|The scheme will identify one sport in each district before taking the necessary steps to find district-specific sports talent, nurture them, and help them compete in district, state, national, and international level tournaments and competitions.
In line with the prior initiative of "One District One Product," which aimed to enable comprehensive socioeconomic growth across all districts, the Yogi Adityanath government has launched a "One District One Sport" (ODOS) scheme to encourage sports culture in every district of the state.
The scheme fulfils the government's dual goals of encouraging sports culture and maintaining the health of the state's youth while giving athletes a place to develop their abilities. This will help them compete in important national and international competitions and win medals for the country.
Sports For Each District
According to a press release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the scheme will identify one sport in each of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. It will then take necessary steps to find district-specific sports talent and further develop their skills so they can compete in district, state, national, and international level tournaments and competitions.
According to The Print, Sports and Districts Under ODOS are: Wrestling in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Chandauli, Baghpat, Aajgarh, Deoria, and Maharajganj; Athletics in Etah, Basti, Ayodhya, Shamli, Kaushambi, Amethi, Hamirpur, Ballia, Rampur, Siddharthnagar, Santkabirnagar, Chitrakoot, Hapur, Meerut, Ghazipur, and Muzaffarnagar; Hockey in Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Hardoi, Moradabad, Etawah, Mau, Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Balrampur, Ghaziabad; Table Tennis in Kanpur and Agra; Badminton in Gautam Budh Nagar and Aligarh; Weightlifting in Bijnor and Mirzapur; Boxing in Bulandshahr and Kushinagar; Archery in Sonbhadra and Lalitpur; Football in Hathras; Swimming in Pilibhit; Shooting in Banda; Kabaddi in Kannauj; and Lawn Tennis in Prayagraj.
The sports of ten other districts have also been altered with the Central Government's approval to become part of the ODOS scheme. These districts' Khelo India Centers have professional coaches in charge of developing the athletes' talents. Other improvements will resume as soon as the new sports policy is executed.
The ten districts now have different sports: Wrestling instead of Judo in Mathura; Athletics instead of badminton in Ballia, Ambedkar Nagar, Kanpur Dehat and Fatehpur; Football instead of Badminton in Bahraich; Kabaddi instead of Badminton in Shravasti; and Hockey instead of Badminton in Jhansi, Gonda, and Lakhimpur Kheri. Sports talent is being selected for training in the interim.
Will Nurture Young Talent
Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary (Sports), stated that nurturing them young is a proven guideline to foster sporting talents. The scheme ensures that sporting talents are discovered in various districts at the appropriate age and given the best local, state, and national training to improve their performances. The ODOS scheme's goal is to enable Uttar Pradesh to continue to dominate the nation in sports for the next few years, population-wise.
The scheme also aims to encourage indigenous sports and water sports, particularly for districts located along the banks of significant rivers. The idea is to nurture local talent with ground-level training and ample opportunities to hone their skills.