The Sports Authority of India and the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council have teamed together to promote athletics in the union territory of J&K

Srinagar, June 13: The Sports Authority of India and the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council have teamed up to promote athletics in the union territory of J&K. The main sports authority in J&K will work with SAI on a first-of-its-kind project to increase the number of Khelo India facilities in the state. Nuzhat Gull, the J&K Sports Council’s Secretary, and Nadeem Dar, the Sports Authority of India’s Deputy Director, in charge of J&K and Ladakh, both signed the MoU.
Relevantly, the KI centres were allocated to J&K in phases, with the first phase awarding the state something in the neighbourhood of forty Khelo India centres in 2020–21. Khelo India now has a total of one hundred centres, with an increase of sixty in only the last few months. This is greater than any one state or union territory in the nation.
Secretary of the Department of Youth Services and Sports Sarmad Hafeez believes that the merger of the two organisations would lead to more participation in sports throughout the whole of UT by providing better resources for players.
Secretary of the Sports Council Nuzhat Gull hailed the signing of the MoU as a watershed moment, saying that it would usher in a new era for J&K sports in which talent would be given the recognition and opportunities it deserved to develop its abilities and become a household name. Both sporting organisations have worked together for the greater good of advancing sports in Jammu and Kashmir, as Nuzhat Gull put it.
Experts agree that allocating Khelo India centres exclusively to the union region of Jammu and Kashmir is a significant step towards realising the goal of turning J&K into a sports mecca. There are currently more than a hundred Khelo India facilities throughout the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Young people in J&K may sharpen their skills at these facilities.
The Sports Council and SAI have collaborated to create a low-cost, high-efficiency training system in which former champion athletes serve as instructors and mentors to up-and-coming athletes in the area, who in turn are financially independent of the Sports Council and SAI.
Each of these facilities is dedicated to bringing sports to the grassroots level and providing an alternate arrangement for areas where there were previously no sports activities, in addition to identifying the greatest talent in the region.
A copy of the MOU is on the desk; it states that the Sports Council would provide the physical space for the centres while SAI would be responsible for providing the operating funds.
The Khelo India programme has helped several sportspeople in Jammu and Kashmir obtain the recognition and training they need to reach the highest levels in their chosen fields. The Khelo India centres were crucial in identifying and developing the region’s latent sports talent.
Khelo India centres often provide cutting-edge facilities, expert trainers, and a variety of training options for athletes of all ages and skill levels. This has aided in the growth of sports in the area as a whole and inspired more and more young people to pursue careers in the sports industry.
Khelo India centres have been more in demand as sports fans and their parents see their transformative potential in recent years. More and more Khelo India centres are needed in J&K if the state is going to meet the rising demand for world-class athletes and a lasting legacy in Indian sports.