The Haryana Government has launched an ambitious scheme to promote and help young men pursue a career in sports. ‘Play4India', a Haryana Government-supported initiative, aims at enabling young boys and girls in the State to get an idea of their athletic potential and subsequently encourage and support them to hone their skills.
Fitness is the core of this campaign and the additional advantage is that if an individual qualifies with 75% + in Sports & Physical Aptitude Test (SPAT), he or she would get a grant from the Haryana Government. The process for choosing is SPAT, a one-of-its kind campaign. The scheme involves seven standardised tests: battery-vertical jump, ball throw, broad jump, bend-&-reach, 30-metre flying, 6X10 shuttle and 800 metre race.
The initiative has been well received and the first test attracted 46,000 boys and girls in the age group of 8 to 19 years and 1,600 candidates qualified. Under the scheme, a fitness-based monthly incentive of Rs.2,000 will be provided to athletes in the age group of 14 to 19 and Rs.1,500 in the age group of 8 to 14.
Says Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, “Our State has a very high playground density with 345 stadiums, most of them at block and village levels. We wanted to engage our young men in constructive activities and sports seemed to be a perfect choice.”
The campaign is claimed to be corruption-free. “We wanted to build an efficient, corruption-free delivery system. People have liked our direct-to-athlete approach. It's about conditional cash transfer in the form of sports scholarship provided the beneficiary athlete comes to the playground 22 days a month and stays away from drugs and anti-social behaviour. We are introducing SPAT in all schools across the State, private as well as government, and hoping to take the participation figure to near 20 lakh,” says Mr. Hooda.
The authorities are convinced that the issue of an “alarmingly low level of fitness and fewer girls in sports” could be tackled in the long run through this campaign. Common Admission Test (CAT), Management Aptitude Test (MAT) and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) are academic benchmark and promoters of this campaign say, “PlayForIndia (www.play4india.com) with SPAT will enable boys and girls realise their potential and also give parents and teachers an adequate understanding of a child's potential.”
The Haryana Government is keen to use sports as a developmental tool. “Sport accords young men an opportunity to build a life around their athletic potential. Our boys and girls have done so well in boxing rings and on wrestling mats that people tend to miss sight of our exploits in hockey, judo, volleyball and kabaddi,” observes Mr. Hooda.The scheme promises to “rid sports of ills like under-reporting of age and nepotism and corruption in selection” and it already has a data base on 35,000 athletes.
Currently this is a State-level programme and the Haryana Government believes it has the potential to become a fruitful campaign at the national level. Mr. Hooda believes young men should grab this opportunity. “Play for India! As a champion, you shall be doing your country, family, yourself proud,” he adds.
